Time Goes On
by TheNightwingfan
Summary: His ragged breaths echoed throughout the alleyway. Silence was golden as he evaluated his dingy surroundings…He knew exactly where he was, Gotham City...He just didn't know where Kid Flash was or what century he was in. R
1. In which Robin and Kid Flash disappear

Simple mission: Get the info they needed, then get out, a typical assignment that the team of Young Justice had become almost wary of. Everything had been going smoothly and Aqualad was about to order the remaining members of the team back to the Bio Ship.

Moving quickly, Robin spotted a shadow moving in the corner of his eye. Narrowing his eyes, he stared at the spot but nothing moved. He shrugged and kept moving. Artemis, Superboy, and Miss Martian had already gotten to the ship so Aqualad, Kid Flash, and Robin hurried along. They had almost gotten to the Bio ship when Robin spotted, once again, a figure move in the shadows.

"I saw something," Robin said quietly

"What is it?" Kid Flash whispered

"I dunno. I'm going to check it out," Robin began inching his way towards where he saw the shadow.

Aqualad placed a hand on his shoulder, "Do you think it is wise for you to go alone?"

Robin looked back at where Aqualad and Kid Flash stood, "It'll only take a couple minutes."

"I'll come with you," Kid Flash suggested, he was curious as well

"Uh, no offence KF but it'd be quicker and quieter if I went alone," Robin stressed the word quieter as he slowly backed away from the two.

Aqualad weighed his options then said, "Kid, go with Robin," Aqualad noted the look on Robin's face, "Just stay quiet, observe, then report your findings over the comm. link."

Robin suppressed a sigh and uttered to Kid Flash, "Let's go."

Aqualad nodded his head then continued towards the Bio ship.

Kid Flash walked behind Robin, "So what do you think you saw?"

"I dunno, but we'll see soon enough," smirked Robin as he crept along

The building they were in was recently built and housed weapons for the military but some weapons had gone missing, which was why the team was there. The hallways were empty and there was the occasional guard, but other than that they were alone. They continued to search and eventually came across a small door. Robin cautiously pried open the door and slipped inside. Kid Flash followed suit and they huddled behind a box carelessly placed on the ground.

The room they were in had poor lighting and the two couldn't see much beyond a few crates and a massive computer. Robin scanned the area, but saw nothing. Kid Flash put his goggles on and turned them to Infrared mode. He nudged Robin, and whispered "Over there." He looked at where Kid Flash was pointing. They saw a figure dressed in a dark costume fiddling with something on a device in the corner. Kid Flash gasped as the figure pressed a button and opened a portal. Robin slapped his head because the figure looked right at them.

Kid Flash apologized with an, "Oops."

Robin stood up; there was no use in trying to hide anymore. They had been caught. The darkly clad figure turned around and faced them, Robin saw the figure move like ink and it hurried and ran into the portal. Robin ran forward and pursued the figure. Kid Flash sighed and ran after Robin.

"No! Robin!"

* * *

Noise. That's all Robin could comprehend upon first waking up. After he gained slightly more consciousness, he felt the cool pavement beneath him, his eyes slowly fluttered open, and he took in his surroundings.

He was in a parking lot and there were two people looking down at him. They both had concerned expressions on their faces and they both began talking at once. He shut his eyes again and sat up.

Slowly, everything began to come back to him. He looked around for Wally.

A man dressed in an ostentatious outfit spoke, "Hey you all right?"

Robin assessed the man's clothing. He wore a jumpsuit with a belt that was fashioned across the man's hips. The jumpsuit itself was abnormal because the jumpsuit wasn't just one color. Every time the man shifted, no matter how insignificant the move, the color would change.

Robin looked down then back up, waved his hand, and said, "Yeah, I'm fine."

This time a woman, dressed similarly to the man standing next to her, said, "Jim, look at his outfit." She pointed at Robin and the man followed the direction she had been pointing. A confused expression worked its way to the mans face.

After staring at him for a few moments he said, "You're not around from here, are you?"

Robin stood up and said, "No, at least, I don't think so. If you'll excuse me, I have to go."

They looked at each other and when they looked back to Robin, he was gone.

Robin planted himself on a rooftop hoping to find answers. He opened up his holographic computer and found that he was in Gotham City, but when he checked to see the date, nothing showed up. Frustrated, he looked around him and found a clock tower, it read 7:18 pm. He sighed. A first thing first, where is KF?

He felt incredibly frustrated because of his lack of knowledge. The city had changed so obviously he had been thrust into a different universe or into the future. The city was still dirty with pollution and trash lay on all the sidewalks. However, the city somehow looked very well kept. The people milling about in the streets looked content and to an extent, they looked like honest people.

After people watching for a couple of minutes, Robin decided he should find a better way to figure out what had happened to him and Kid Flash.

He jumped off the building. At the last moment possible, he shot off his grappling hook and landed swiftly on the ground. He noticed the people staring; they all were similarly dressed as the couple he encountered before.

After assessing everything around him, he broke out into a run before anyone overreacted. "Wouldn't want to be on the news, now would we?" he murmured to himself. People's chatter began to overwhelm him and he urged himself to calm down.

He found the first alleyway he could find and slipped into the shadows. His ragged breaths echoed throughout the alleyway. Silence was golden as he evaluated his dingy surroundings…a chilling realization hit him. He was in crime alley…except it didn't look like the crime alley he was used to. Everything was bright and someone obviously took great care in it. The more he stared at the alley, the more anxiety he felt. This wasn't right and this wasn't familiar.

"What's going on," he thought.

He again opened up his holographic wrist computer and typed something into it. God, he hoped this worked.

Batman, also known as Bruce Wayne, sat in front of the Batcomputer overlooking past criminal records. Nothing caught his eye and he was satisfied at the fact that the crime rate was down a significant amount. A message popped up in front of his work, he held his breath as he moved the mouse and clicked 'open'.

_Don't know if this'll work…This is Robin. Kid Flash and I are stuck here. S.O.S _

His heart leapt and Batman's fingers hovered above the keyboard. His mind went blank as he tried to compose a reply. Something in his mind clicked and he began to type back a simple response.

Explanations would be shared later, and then, when they were face-to-face, he would allow himself to feel the joy of his return.

* * *

**A/N: **I apologize for errors this has not been beta'd. Anyways, I've had this idea for a while now and finally decided to post something. I know it's short but I just wanted to get this off my chest. So tell me what you think(:


	2. In which Bruce gets a wake up call

Kid Flash could feel someone slightly push him and he swatted whoever it was away. Thinking it was his mother he mumbled, "Five more minutes." Another shove and Wally sat up straight, "Mom!" he croaked. He looked around and realized he wasn't in his bed and it also wasn't his mother who had been shoving him. He scowled at what had disturbed him. It was a little girl; she was dressed in some of the weirdest clothes Wally had ever seen.

"What are you doin?" the girl asked impolitely

"I was sleeping, but now…" Wally allowed himself to trail off as he looked around him. He looked at his surroundings then back at the little girl, "Where…where are we?"

The little girl coughed and said, "Gotham, where else?"

Instead of replying, Wally marveled at the buildings, they were so beautiful and each one had a high-tech feel to it. The darkened sky contrasted against the glistening buildings which gave Wally the impression that he was in a high-end part of town. Wally pushed himself up off the ground and checked out the area he woke up in, the slides and swing sets led Wally to believe he was in a playground. He smiled as he watched some of the people play with their kids.

Just then a woman came up to the little girl he stood next to, "Kaitlyn, dear, what'd I tell you about strangers? Not to talk to them didn't I? Especially the ones dressed in goofy costumes."

Wally looked down at his costume; what was this woman talking about? He looked great! With a huff, Wally walked away.

What was with this place anyway? Wally had always pictured Gotham to be a very grimy place. Instead, it was actually a moderately clean place. He had only been here once, and that was only to go against Clayface. He shuddered at the memory.

The memory reminded him about the team, which led Wally to ask, where's Robin? Suddenly, he started to panic. Uh oh, had he lost Robin? Wally turned around. He didn't see Robin anywhere! He walked over to one of the parents at the park, "Hey, umm, have you happened to see a kid with black hair that has a cape?"

The woman sized up Wally and replied, "No."

Wally raked a hand through his hair, he snapped his fingers and said, "Okay, what I meant was, have you seen Robin?" The parent looked at him with a blank face, he tried again, "You know? Robin? The Boy Wonder?"

The woman sat there and then all of a sudden, out of nowhere, the woman laughed in Wally's face, "Robin? No one has seen him for years! Are you feeling all right?"

Wally could feel the color drain from his face, he managed to stutter out, "W-what do you mean years?"

"Yeah, he disappeared...Oh when was that…I was a very young girl at the time. It was maybe fourty-one years ago…Yeah, fourty-one years ago. "

Wally quickly did the math inside of his head, "That means it's 2052…doesn't it?" He didn't wait for a reply but instead ran off, "I gotta go find Rob."

* * *

While Robin waited for an answer back, he decided to walk around crime alley…Robin's mind began to wonder. "_Hmm, I wonder if they still call this place Crime Alley." _Robin sauntered over to where there was a beautiful flower garden flourishing. A white miniature picket fence surrounded the gorgeous flowers, as Robin got closer; he noticed a plaque rested there. Robin bent down to read what the plaque said, _In loving memory of Thomas and Martha Wayne. _

Robin frowned and realized that Bruce wouldn't have done this. Maybe Leslie finally decided to clean this place up. He heard a beep emanating from his glove and he looked down. He opened up his holographic wrist computer and opened up the message.

_Batcave. Now. You can explain there. Do not leave West on his own. _

Robin breathed a sigh of relief, good old Bruce. Now that that was solved, all Robin had to do was find Wally. Robin sighed. This could take awhile, Gotham was a big city and it was a big possibility that Wally wasn't even in Gotham. For all Robin knew, Wally could have gotten here a couple of days before him.

Robin walked towards where he entered. He hesitated before stepping out into the crowd of people. He decided that he would head over to Robinson Park* to see if anyone had seen him. He continued on his way and was about to turn a corner when a gust of wind and a flash of yellow and red startled him.

"KF!" Robin screamed out

A second later, Kid Flash's face popped in front of him, he grabbed Robin and pulled him into a bear hug, "Holy crap! I'm so glad I found you! I have no idea what's going on and this lady told me it was 2039! Can you believe—"

Robin cut him off, "Whoa, whoa. Wally, you need to calm down. I can't understand you when you don't take a breath."

"Calm down? I can't calm down when some lady tells me it's 2052!" Wally sputtered out

Robin's expression turned to surprise, "We're gonna go to the Batcave, Bruce'll know what to do."

"Here tell me where it's at and I'll run us over." Suggested Kid Flash

Robin struggled to decide, surely, Bruce would understand if he lets him know…Robin grabbed Wally's arm and dragged him over to a secluded area. "Okay, I'm going to tell you how to get there..." he whispered into Wally's ear.

"You know, I always wondered how you could afford those fancy gadgets." Smirked Kid Flash

"We need to find some civvies first." Robin glanced around and spotted a store

"Why?" Wally asked with a groan escaping his lips

"It's a little suspicious when two superheroes just show up at the front door of Wayne Manor. Besides, it might be a good idea to fit in with everyone else, just in case we wanna be in public again." Robin stated plainly

"Ah come on."

"It'll only take a couple minutes."

"Fine." Wally grumbled.

Twenty minutes later, Robin and Kid Flash walked out of the department store. Kid flash tugged at the brightly colored jumpsuit. Robin, minus a mask or sunglasses, wore grey pants with a bright red jacket.

"I look like an idiot." Moaned Wally

"That's a surprise…" Robin said, his voice laced sarcasm

"Not cool. Let's go. Climb on!" Wally said with a chuckle escaping his lips. Wally knew how much Robin hated being carried.

Robin grimaced then hopped on Wally's back, "Just hurry up."

Wally grinned and sped off towards Wayne Manor.

* * *

Bruce heard the doorbell ring and stood up from his chair. He mentally prepared himself to see his old ward. His presence had been greatly missed and Bruce thought he would never be able to forgive himself for losing him.

He climbed the steps and reached the door to his study. He hurried out of his study and made his way towards the door. Another ring of the doorbell echoed throughout the manor and Bruce grumbled, impatient kids. He took a deep breath and reached towards the door handle. He clutched it tightly, twisted the knob, and pulled open the door. When opened, Bruce could see both Dick and Wally standing there.

He locked eyes with Dick and pulled him into a warm embrace. _He's home again._

* * *

**A/N: **Thank you so much with all of the reviews/favorites/alerts! Don't forget to leave a review before you head out(: They make my day and also make me more motivated! (I do recieve an email when you alert/favorite and don't review...Just putting it out there) Love you all!


	3. In Which family's importance escalates

**A/N: **I don't usually start off with an author's note but I think I should explain some things. I know many of you are confused to as what is going on. Your questions shall be answered soon enough. In addition to that, this is not a Batman Beyond crossover. However, Terry might have a cameo and a villain is used in this from the show. I hope that it'll make sense before long. I'm going to start calling the characters their first names. I hope that's okay.

* * *

Wally watched as he saw an elderly Bruce Wayne hug Dick. While he stood there watching them, thoughts of the wellbeing of his family began to surface. He wondered if everyone was well and if they were all happy. More thoughts began to swirl in his mind and a sudden urge to clear his throat surfaced.

He wanted-no- he needed answers and he wouldn't get any if they stood on the front porch all day. He began to tap his foot slightly and finally Bruce pulled away from Dick.

"Come inside." Bruce murmured quietly, his voice still deep and strong

Wally grinned and glanced at Dick. Dick looked a little shocked, perhaps it was because Bruce gave him the longest hug, and maybe it was because Bruce looked so aged. Bruce's hair had turned completely white and he had various wrinkles visible on his face. Dick knew that Bruce would get some serious scowl/frown lines but wow, he didn't expect to see them so soon. Bruce carried with him a cane, but he seemed to move along fine despite it.

Wally and Dick took a step inside the mansion. Dick looked around and found that things looked almost the same as he remembered: cold, darkly lit, and neutral colors filling the house. The only differences were the layers of dust covering most of the house. Dick's mind wondered about Alfred and with a sad sigh, he become conscious of the fact that Alfred was probably…gone.

"Everything looks exactly the same." Dick spoke softly, gingerly running his hand alone the wooden banister leading to the Bedrooms.

Wally marveled at the size of the house and admired the obvious quality put into building the house. It was nice, but not nearly as homey as Wally's house was…this place looked more similar to a mausoleum than a house. Bruce led them through the house and stopped when they reached Bruce's study, Wally watched as Bruce stood before a grandfather clock and turned the hands to a certain time. Wally leaned forward to see what time Bruce made the hands turn but Bruce's broad shoulders covered his view.

Suddenly, the grandfather clock swished open and revealed a set of stairs leading down into a secret room.

While walking down the stairs, Bruce spoke up, "I want you both to explain the events prior to your travels here."

They both nodded and entered a massive cave, Wally gasped at the sight of the live bats and the many souvenirs. So Bruce and he shared a trait of saving things for memory. He chuckled, "You guys really like to milk the whole 'creatures of the night' thing, huh?"

Dick shot a glare towards Wally's direction; he redirected his attention back to Bruce, "The last thing I remember is we were on a mission with the team when I spotted something. Wally and I began pursuing a figure dressed in dark colors. It was fiddling with a device and it opened a portal with said device. Wally freaked it out and it ran into the portal. I followed him and apparently so did he." Summarized Dick, an amused smirk worked its way to his face after watching Wally wondering around and checking out the cave.

"Can you give me a detailed appearance of the figure?" inquired Bruce eyeing Wally carefully

"From what I could see, the figure was dressed in head to toe dark violet. It had a feminine figure, a white dot was located on the face and—"

"Stop." Bruce interjected, he typed into the computer and pulled up an image, "Is this what you two saw?"

Wally zipped over and took in the image. Dick analyzed the figure and nodded his head.

"Yep. That's it…or her." Wally commented

Bruce nodded, "This is Inque. She recently made her appearance a couple of months ago. She mysteriously disappeared a week ago. Apparently she found a way to time travel and bring you both along with her."

Dick nodded his head again, "Seems like it."

"So what do we do now?" Wally asked, he then added, "Can I go see Flash and my family?"

"I don't think that's a good idea." Bruce advised after looking over toward him with a grim expression

"Well, why not? They havent seen me in such a long time. 'Sides, you gotta see Rob again." Argued Wally after crossing his arms

"That was necessary, you want to go home don't you?" opposed Bruce

"Well yeah but—"

"Then we track down Inque as soon as possible; find out what device she used to travel through time, get you two back to your respective times, and this will be all over. Then, you may see you family." Bruce sighed and continued, "It's best to know next to nothing of the future. You're better off being kept in the dark."

The look in his eyes alerted Wally, "What happened?" he asked softly, with no reply Wally demanded with a yell, "What happened?"

Dick stood silently watching the whole interaction and conversation. Dick doubted that Bruce changed much so Dick knew that Bruce was getting frustrated but that he was also to some extent struggling to keep quiet.

Dick attempted to help Bruce, even though he too had become curious of the future, he still asked him a question, "Bruce?" Bruce turned his attention back to Dick, "So how do we find Inque? I want to get this over with," he paused to laugh, and then he continued, "I have an important meet next week!"

Bruce pulled up more information about Inque, "She usually focuses on sabotaging big events. Along with that, she also has made a frequent attempt to steal many Wayne-Powers technology.

"Wayne-Powers?" Dick asked while raising an eyebrow

Bruce eyed Dick carefully then shook his head, "Yes."

Wally narrowed his eyes because of the turn of the discussion. Although did not pursue his questions any farther, the subject still lingered in his mind. Even despite the fact that Bruce had made it perfectly clear that, he wouldn't tell him. His mind began working a mile a minute and he realized that he could find out what happened to his family without the Batman's help.

Bruce seemed to sense the change in Wally's attitude, "I know you're curious but this is not the future you both will eventually witness. If I can get you back, none of this'll have to happen."

Wally took in Bruce's words and he looked towards Dick. Dick stared back at him and grinned. Wally couldn't help but grin back, Bruce was probably right. All he has to do is get back home, speaking of which, "All right, so what's the game plan?"

* * *

Don't forget to review(: Motivation is needed! Press the button! It's blue and underlined and it's just right under these words. You know you want tooooo. :DD

\/\/\/\/\/\/


	4. In Which the Hard Truth is Revealed

"So what's the game plan?" Wally asked while stifling a yawn

Bruce looked at both of the boys, then he switched his focus to the time, the clock read 7:47 pm, "You two get some rest, it's been a long day for both you. In the meantime, I'll figure something out."

Wally mentally sighed and began to focus on his exhaustion. To his surprise, he was worn-out as well as famished. As if on cue, his stomach growled noisily while he yawned and both Bruce and Dick gave him a funny look.

He grinned sheepishly and raked a hand through his hair, "Sorry."

Bruce coughed out, "Dick, show Wally to the kitchen. After you eat, head to bed," he turned to face Wally, "You may stay in any one of the guest rooms."

A bowl of _Cap'n Crunch_ cereal, two cups of milk, a couple apples and a banana later, Wally found that his hunger was entirely satisfied. Dick watched as Wally devoured the food with slight amusement, he himself placed the last spoonful of canned soup to his mouth and happily found that his hunger had subsided as well.

After cleaning up, they both climbed the stairs with minimal energy, when they reached the top of the stairs, Dick stopped, and pointed towards one of the guest rooms, "I recommend you take that one, it has the best pillows."

Wally gave Dick a smile and said, "Thanks sleep tight."

Dick returned the smile and cautioned, "Don't let the bed bugs bite," he chuckled then walked towards his room. Out of the corner of his eye, he watched as Wally entered the guest room.

The weary hero opened his door and found that everything was placed exactly as he remembered when he left his room that morning, the state of his room made him sigh because that only meant that Bruce hadn't ever gotten over his disappearance. He undressed, took out a pair of pajama bottoms and climbed into the bed thoughts of concern clouding his mind.

* * *

A sleek figure made its way through the hallways of LexCorp. Footsteps of an oncoming guard echoed in the hallway so the figure slipped into the nearest shadow and seemingly melted against the wall. She held her breath as the chubby guard slowly passed her. After the sounds of the footsteps began to fade, she returned to her human form and continued on her way. She finally came across the door she was searching for, she slipped under the door and the object of her desire was displayed before her. With a grin in place, she reached for the object. Her fingers wrapped around it and then suddenly the alarms began to blare.

Inque cursed, placed the item in a pocket, and sliced open the door. She ran down the hallway and hoped she'd find a way to escape. She finally spotted an air vent and a sinister smile appeared on her face when she morphed and slid in the vents. The guards arrived to stop the intruder a second too late for she was long gone.

Inque smiled in satisfaction at her hideout as she admired her new toy. Bored with her prize already, she flipped on the news to see if the security cameras caught her on tape, actually she made sure they caught her on tape; she just liked to see her face on the television. She eagerly watched the entire show hoping of at least a mention. She received none and just as she was about to turn the television off, something caught her eye. Inque reached for the remote and increased the volume.

"Another strange occurrence today, both former sidekicks, Kid Flash and Robin, who both disappeared many years ago, were supposedly spotted in Gotham today. It has not yet been clarified who exactly these imposters are but the people here are asking the same question: Have the two sidekicks returned or is this just another sick joke?"

The news anchor's face suddenly was replaced with an antique image of both Kid Flash and Robin. Inque's eyes grew wide as she recognized the two boys. She remembered her vacation back to the early 2000's and she began to realize that they must have followed her. A scowl appeared on her face and she thought about all of the trouble that this might cause her.

"Hmm, maybe I should find them. Lose ends definitely aren't a good thing." She tapped her chin, laid back onto the couch, a plot already beginning to form in the villainess's mind.

* * *

Wally was running. In fact, he was running so fast that he felt as if he were flying. An exuberating feeling coursed through his body, he felt so alive in that moment. After circling the globe a couple of times, the yellow clad hero began to slow down only slightly. A small grin crept its way onto Wally's face and soon the miniature grin turned into a full-out smile.

The young redhead finally slowed down to the speed of a regular sprinter. The fastest boy alive reached Central City and decided to take time to look at his hometown. Wally passed his older looking high school and made a sour face, 'Only halfway through sophomore year,' he thought, 'Huh, wonder if the school got remodeled. Looks different.' He dismissed the thought and continued to reminisce, the speedster passed many shops, offices, and schools on his way through, and soon he came to see his house.

From afar, he could spot his favorite place to think, his porch swing. He sped up and within a microsecond, smile still plastered on, he arrived at his home.

The joy he felt quickly vanished and Wally grimaced when he saw the quality of his home. It was unkempt and there were weeds everywhere. His mother wouldn't ever allow this to happen. He started to panic and ran through the house. Nothing, no one was there. The panic became almost unbearable and he sped off toward his aunt and uncles house.

He called out and received no answer he ran into the kitchen and he spotted his aunt on the floor.

"Aunt Iris!" he called out while rushing to her side.

She turned her head and started to scream, "No! Can't be! No! Gone! Like Barry...my Barry!"

That's when Wally noticed the blood, the horrible crimson substance was on the walls, on his aunts hands, the ceiling…everywhere.

* * *

Wally woke with a jolt. He sat up immediately and looked around. Sighing in relief, Wally realized that the walls around him were a blank white instead of that terrifying red.

"Just a dream," muttered Wally, he realized that in all actuality ignorance of the future bugged him that he didn't know what would happen…He could just 'pop' over to Central City right now and no one would have to know. The refreshed hero was able to climb out of bed when Batman's words echoed in his mind…So maybe it wouldn't be a good idea to do that. Instead, he would…he would… go out into town and find a library or something...then search the records. Yeah! That's exactly what he would do.

He glanced at the clock resting of the bedside table and a scowl appeared on his face, 6:14 am. Way too early, he pulled a pillow over his head and closed his eyes again.

A knock on his door made him groan; couldn't a guy get some sleep around here? Another knock and he recognized that he wasn't going to get more sleep with a growl.

* * *

Bruce sat in the kitchen, drinking a cup of coffee. Wally, dressed in one of Dick's shirt and a pair of jeans that looked just a little too tight on him, came into the kitchen whistling with Dick trailing behind him.

"Morning!" Wally said cheerfully

Bruce mumbled a 'good morning' then handed Dick the newspaper. Wally read over his shoulder while Dick read the front page in bolded letters at the top. It read, "**Is It True? Are They Back**_**?**_" Displayed with that was a picture of Kid Flash and Robin.

"Of course they chose the picture of me tripping…" He received two glares and suddenly, Wally became interested more on the floor than responding to the article. Dick caught Bruce's eye than apologized, "Sorry about that. I didn't think anyone would have recognized us."

"This just means you both need to keep lower profiles. If you do go outside this house I recommend blending in as best as you can," cautioned Bruce

"About that, so I kind of wanted to look around so while I'm doing that I could get some food or any run any kind of errand, I mean, if you want." Wally suggested while nervously fiddling with the hem of his shirt.

Bruce was about to reject Wally's request when another coughing fit occupied his throat. Dick rushed over towards Bruce and put a hand on his back.

"Are you feeling all right?" Dick wondered in a concerned voice

Finally, Bruce's coughs began to subside and he replied hastily, "Yes, I'll be fine." Bruce remembered Wally's request and proposed, "Maybe you should accompany Wally while he runs some errands." He reached into his robe pocket, grabbed his wallet and slipped out a couple of plastic cards, the confused expressions on each of the boys face stopped when Bruce commented, "Credits. You'll need them"

Dick's suspicions rose higher so Dick answered Bruce with another confused look. Bruce made a 'go-on' motion with his hand and he watched as Wally smiled, grabbed the credit cards, and pulled Dick towards the door. Wally dragged him a couple feet when Dick turned around, gave Bruce one last look then walked out uncertainly behind Wally.

* * *

Wally devised a plan while walking beside Dick in downtown Gotham. They were both wearing sunglasses that kept their eyes shielded from the morning sun as well as providing them a low profile.

After spotting a library, Wally decided to put his plan into motion, "Hey, so I'll go do the food shopping if you wanna look around more. Or get other stuff."

Dick continued to walk ahead and the boy wonder raised his eyebrows, "What are you up to Wally?"

Wally raised his hands in defense, "Nothing! Just you know, thought I'd be helpful," he caught the look on his best friends face, sighed, and gave in, "I know Bruce doesn't want us finding stuff about the future, but I just want to know how my family got along without me." The redheaded boy shoved his hands in his pockets and said quietly, "Y'know, just in case anything does happen to me someday…"

"Look Wally—"

"What's the harm? It's not like I'm going to do anything that could disrupt the space time continuum," Wally joked at the same time as nudging Dick with an elbow

"Fine, but you're not going to get any good results without me." A smug smile appeared on Dick's face.

* * *

Amazement had become their main emotion as they entered the library. Complex machines that resembled computers were lined in massive rows. After standing there for a couple minutes in admiration, and after people began to stare, they chose to find a less intricate computer to attract less suspicion.

Wally allowed Dick to work the computer while he watched over his shoulder. After a couple of misses on locating his family, they finally found a hit.

Dick left Wally alone as he read the article on his family. Dick pulled up a couple of cites that had found a match and so Wally began to read the first article. With a frown, Wally read the article.

"_Rudolf Robert West. Once a detective, formerly an elementary principle has died at age 52._

_A hardworking man, who spent his time searching for his lost son, suffered from a fatal heart attack last night. West and his wife, Mary, had split shortly after the mysterious loss but together they have aided in locating various people in the vicinity. His wife moved to the Caribbean and is presumed to be still living there. Rudolf eventually remarried and in his later years, Rudolf began to spend more and more time working on cars. _

_His love for automobile, kind spirit and attentiveness will not be easily forgotten. _

_He is survived by his adoptive sister Iris; his wife Sheryl; his mother; his uncle…"_

The impulsive teenager couldn't read any further, he switched to another article.

"_..Superman held a press conference today giving us some insight into the disappearance of our beloved hero The Flash. We all were eager to receive an explanation as to what happened to our hero. However, the news we received was not pleasant in the slightest bit and left every member of the press with a sour taste in our mouths._

_Superman began with a speech about The Flash's contribute to the fight of the greater good. He ended the conference on a different note…by sharing the news of Flash's untimely demise. He explained that there had been a major battle between nearly every known hero and a threatening force and the Flash had sacrificed his own life to aid in their victory. He did not go into greater depth than that for he flew off…." _

Wally suddenly stopped reading from the screen and rubbed his eyes. Dick watched with uncertainty and began to tread carefully back over to his less-than-happy friend. He placed a comforting hand on Wally's back and Wally turned around.

"Heavy stuff," Wally spoke softly, he made eye contact with Dick and gave him a smile, "Thanks, I—"

"You don't have to say anything." Dick offered a hand and Wally took it.

Wally turned the computer off and turned to the younger boy, "Let's go, I'm hungry."

"When aren't you?" Dick playfully asked while they walked out the door.

As they admired the futuristic Gotham City, they failed to notice a pair of eyes watching from a distance.

* * *

**A/N: **I am actually surprised I finished the chapter today, I've been in a slump lately and I couldn't even think of writing. So, I don't know much about Wally's parents so most of the stuff about his family I found on the internet/made up. Guys...I think I am suffering for Young Justice new episode withdrawal…anyone have any news on the lack of episodes? :'(

One last note: REVIEW! :DD \/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/


	5. In Which they Stop a Robbery

Bruce Wayne, formerly the Batman, sat in the dusty Batcave clutching his chest with his hand. A sharp intake of air and a bottle of medication later, the pain had begun to subside. Never had his heart hurt so badly before. Because both Dick and Wally returned, it could have caused his emotions to overwhelm him to the point that his heart can't handle it anymore.

Bruce had known for a while that his lifespan might not be as long as he would have hoped. His main objective at the moment was to keep this hidden from anyone and also to find out where Inque is hiding. The possibility that she might not even be in this century anymore was a high and unsettling one. Bruce's fingers flew across the keyboard as he searched anything matching Inque's description.

After searching for at least ten minutes, he found something at last. From the looks of it, the shambles of the once-great LexCorp recently had a newish weapon stolen from its safely secured vault. The elderly Bruce dug in deeper for more information. Once he did he could clearly see the person behind it all.

Inque's face appeared and Bruce decided to take a closer look at the object she had stolen. The weapon she stole was a small molecular disrupter device. He recalled discussing something like this with his shared company. Instead of agreeing to going through with the project, Bruce had objected and used his powerful words to sway the others on the board. With his many years of experience, Bruce had learned that when you manufacturing powerful weapons do not do much to help anyone. There's always someone out there who has darker intentions for what one originally created for good.

'What could Inque use this for?' pondered Bruce silently. Bruce had a plan, although it was probably not the best plan the greatest-detective-since-Sherlock-Holmes could come up with but for now it would have to do, for a throbbing sensation filled his head. For a selfish moment, Bruce considered what would happen if the boys stayed here with him…If he kept them with him.

The former Batman shook his head in disappointment, of course he wouldn't keep them here, how selfish of a thought. Taking a sip of the bitterly cold coffee, Bruce shut down the program and with a retrospective attitude walked over to the glass case holding his old uniform. He brought a shaky hand to the glass and a memory surfaced…

_"Bruce. You can't keep doing this. Stop now before the kid gets hurt."_

_"I don't need you to tell me what I should or should not do."_

_A sudden realization hit him and Superman, or Clark Kent, placed a hand on Batman's shoulder, "I know you miss him. But would Dick want you to never get over this? It's been ten years, for goodness sake."_

_Batman shook his hand off, spun around, glared at Superman with a glare every villain had nightmares about, and said venomously, "Dick isn't here. Barbara is in a god forsaken wheelchair, and I just lost Alfred. I'm still here, I haven't broken down and I am perfectly capable of handling myself and him out there. Neither the league nor you need to be concerned of my wellbeing."_

_"This isn't about that and you know it. We're getting older and for you to bring another child into the life of being a superhero is a bad idea. I know this child has potential and I know Tim is a well behaved child, but I just don't see a positive of having the kid out there," Clark advised with his strong voice._

_Batman's face softened if only a little and Clark thought that the stubborn Dark Knight would admit to the mistake but then he opened his mouth, "This isn't any of your concern. End of discussion Clark." He stalked off and left Superman standing there with a look of concern on his face._

Bruce removed his hand from the glass immediately, Superman had maintained distance from Batman and rarely spoke to the man after that. After Tim's accident, they stopped talking all together and Bruce's ties to the Justice League, and newly reformed Young Justice, dwindled and he kept to himself.

Water was brought to his eyes but with a defiant attitude, none would fall.

* * *

"Why anyone would want to do that to them I will never know…hey do you think I'd look good with snake eyes?" Wally referred to the current fad 'splicing'

"Probably not."

Unsatisfied with the answer Wally frowned. "Hey, ever wonder what happened to the team?" he asked in between bites of fries.

"Huh?" replied Dick; they were standing in front of an electronics store admiring the technology.

"Y'know," he lowered his voice to a whisper, "Young Justice?"

"Oh, well yeah of course, I doubt they fell apart or anything, they're probably still in business with Superboy and Miss M's kids," said Robin with a lopsided grin

Wally scowled and looked at the younger teen, "Dude, not even funny. That would never happen."

"You keep telling yourself that," while Wally was trying to come up with a good comeback Dick looked at the time, "Let's get back. I'm sure Bruce's waiting for us."

Wally finished the basket of fries and dumped the basket in the trashcan, "Sure."

As they were about to turn the corner two men, one obviously a young teenager the other more matured, ran full force into them. The four packages the men carried flew everywhere and both Wally and Dick were knocked to the ground. Dick narrowed his eyes in distrust and tried to get back on his feet while the two scrambled to pick the packages up. On the ground, Wally heard the faint sound of police sirens ringing in the background.

"Dammit Terry, we gotta go!" the older one hissed

"Y-your fault! We're going to get caught Un-schway man!" The younger of the two said uneasily

Dick carefully assessed them both; they were clothed in head-to-toe black and had filthy appearances. The alarm in the back of Dick's head began to scream that these men, or kids, just broke into somewhere.

Wally saw the expression of his best friend and immediately stood up and quickly snatched the box from the man, "I doubt the police are going to like you two stealing stuff."

While Wally preoccupied them both, Dick slipped into the shadows and appeared again to kick the older ones knee out from under him, the man fell and with him the two packages he held.

The younger one widened his eyes in surprise and began to run; Dick beckoned towards the fleeing teen, "Want to handle that?"

"Sure thing," grinned an already moving Wally

Only a minute later, the time-traveling teenage superheroes had both of the two thieves tied up with the packages tied onto them.

"Dude, let's go. I don't wanna have to deal with an even crankier crankman."

Dick nodded, smile in place, and ran off just as soon as the police cars pulled up.

As they began to head back Dick suddenly came to a halt, Wally glanced back and gave him a look of confusion, "What?"

"I don't know but I think someone is following us."

"Naw, you're just being paranoid. Come on let's go."

Wally walked ahead, Dick stood there momentarily before following.

* * *

"Where are they?" worried Bruce, "Better be here—"

Before Bruce could finish his sentence, he heard the main gates open and the boys making ruckus walking up the path to the front entry way. Bruce sat in his comfortable fireside chair and stared at the door. The ebony haired boy stepped foot into the mansion first with the ginger boy following suit.

"Schway. I think I like that word, schwayyy," Dick came to a halt and Wally ran into him, "Dude! Oh."

Dick walked over to the elderly Bruce and apologized, "Sorry Bruce, we had a hard time figuring out the Atrac."

"Ask next time you're confused," Bruce said offhandedly, Dick lowered his head but kept quiet

"We got some food," Wally awkwardly mentioned, still standing by the front

Bruce gave a weary look and started to speak, "I found information on Inque. Last night she stole a molecular disrupter, I have a good idea of what she'll be after next….It may be a good idea for you both to get ready."

"Schway!"

Bruce faintly smiled and sighed, "Hurry up."

* * *

_**A/N:**_ Shortish I know, what can I say...I just really wanted a new chapter out, next chapter will hopefully be better. But guess who I put in this chapter? :D Oh yeah, I totally did that. Since I did, you all owe me a review. Please? Come on guys, hurts my feelings, along with Wally and Dick, when you read and forget a review.

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	6. In Which they meet Inque

Inque slipped back into her base with an exhausted sigh, the whole day she had searched for any boys that had similarities to the two teenage sidekicks. In fatigue, she recalled the day's events. For the first half of the day she found nothing, about ready to give up on spotting them she saw two boys exit the Gotham Public Library.

Making sure she had located the right boys she listened in to most of their conversations. She heard the ginger-haired boy speak of something impossible to make 'back home' and about what a strange year they were stuck in. The shorter boy would agree with him and tell him to be quieter, every once and awhile he would glance towards where she was positioned. He made no move to indicate he was actually aware of her presence so she continued watching them the entire time they were walking around.

Satisfied with her being able to confirm these were the boys she had been searching for, Inque was prepared to take them down once they were separated from any other people. However, what kept her from doing so was the curiosity as to who was hiding them. The boys continued to the Atrac, Inque slipped ahead of them and positioned herself on the train, just as the redhead was about to step foot in, the younger boy suddenly pulled him away and into another car. Inque could only watch with displeasure as the other car left.

So the dark haired boy was on to her more so than she had previously thought, clever. A thought that maybe she wouldn't have to kill them both overcame her mind. She'd figure that out once they both were in her grasp.

Checking to see if there were any new inventions out, something caught her eye. Wayne-Powers had something of interest, well, as much as Inque could be in something. Usually she would be out sabotaging a big project for a company that wanted payback but lately, no jobs had become available.

Suddenly her hide out seemed too big and lonely, in order to avoid any negative moods she slipped out the door and headed to Wayne-Powers.

* * *

Echoing throughout the damp cave, water dripped down like a leaky faucet and just like at home, Wally sat there in irritation wishing he could shut the constant sound out. Why it took Robin to get dressed so long was a wonder to Wally. Granted he didn't have super-speed or any other superpowers, but still… it took the kid at least several minutes to get ready.

He let his eyes wander again and the yellow clad superhero adverted Bruce's gaze for what seemed like the hundredth time in a few short minutes. Without the Boy Wonders presence, being in the older Dark Knights company was just plain awkward. Finally, after subconsciously tapping his fingers against his leg, Wally heard the steps of the younger teen and shot up from his seat on the damp ground.

"Finally," Wally exclaimed, he lowered his voice and murmured, "You just missed Bat and mine's staring contest."

"Exciting stuff," retorted Robin with a slight chuckle, "So where exactly are we going Bruce?""

"Wayne-Powers, it's in the same location," Bruce needn't finish for the look of recognition on his young partner's face

"Got it, hey question: how exactly do we get there? I mean, I know I only have a permit but I'm pretty almost 100% sure I could handle the controls on the Batmobile—"

"No." the answer to Wally's question was so blunt that it made the speedster take a few steps back and a huge laugh from the Boy Wonder made the boy's cheeks burn bright red, "I'll drive you both," Bruce finished

Wally's eyes widened with pure excitement as he spotted the Batmobile, "Sweet! I mean schway! You mean there's a back seat in the Batmobile?"

Dick took a few steps towards Bruce and captured his attention, "Are you sure that's a good idea? I mean…"

"Of course, I made upgrades to the Batmobile subsequent to your disappearance. In a way, it's easier to drive, however, I haven't completely finished but it'll do," Bruce stated, and then he continued, "Besides, I haven't driven it in so long."

Dick caught the small smile Bruce had been willing to give. "Follow me," Bruce said standing up

Teeming with excitement, Wally followed and got as close to Bruce as he found comfortable. Wandering after them both, a glass case caught his eye. Curious, the boy wonder found his way over to the display cases. He saw one of his Robin costumes proudly displayed along with a very similar version of his, one of Batgirl's outfits, the classic Batman outfit. Beside that was a different Batman outfit, it was minus a cape, the ears were longer, and a red bat symbol was displayed proudly on the chest.

Suddenly, the thought of Bruce replacing him after his disappearance seemed likely and filled Robin with a sense of betrayal. He didn't know why but he felt a slight amount of anger bubbling up.

"You coming?" he heard Kid Flash call from afar

"Yeah, sorry," Robin tore his eyes away from the other Robin outfit and trudged towards the Batmobile.

When he took in the sight of the new and improved Batmobile, he opened his mouth in surprise. The car wasn't really a car anymore; the sleek car was without wheels and hovered about five feet off the ground. Besides the absent wheels, the car was still charcoal black and looked to fit two or three people at most.

"Dude, hurry up!" the speedster called, the call broke Robin out of his shock, "By the way, I totally call shot gun," added the older teen

"Rock paper scissors for it?" Robin asked hoping KF would take the bait.

He did. And he lost.

"Best two outta three?"

"No way."

"Damn rock paper scissors…" muttered an upset speedster in the backseat

The younger teen just laughed in response to his mutters.

"Stay hidden. If she appears then you make an appearance, but only then. Stay absolutely quiet," the elder Bruce's eyes flickered towards the ginger, "Make sure she doesn't get away."

"Got it," answered Robin, he jumped out of the car and landed on a neighboring roof of the Wayne-Powers tower. The yellow clad superhero proudly pressed his symbol which replaced the bright primary colors with a dark grey and jumped after Robin. Artemis popped into his mind as he remembered when she insisted that Wally should 'stop touching himself.' Now that had been funny.

He didn't land with the amount of grace Robin did, but rolled out of the fall and fell into a crouch, "Mission is a go," he whispered cheerfully

"Now we wait," responded the darker haired teen

* * *

"Dude, I am sooooo bored," wined the Flash's young partner

"It's only been a couple of minutes, she'll be here eventually and then we can go home," Robin lowered his high-power binoculars and made eye contact with Kid Flash

"Fine."

An almost silent beep emanated from the Boy Wonder's glove, Kid Flash sat up in hope and waited for Robin to speak, "Silent alarm's been tripped. Let's go."

"Yes!" exclaimed the excited teen

* * *

Inque detoured to a closing Jewelry Store on her way to Wayne-Powers. She actually found a couple of valuable necklaces and opted to steal a couple new pairs of earrings as well. Satisfied once again, she set onto her original course. Finding a way in to the building had been an easy task for Inque, it always had been. The difficult part was remaining undetected, her first job out she had tripped more than a silent alarm and had been almost captured.

If that taught her anything, it was to take her time to avoid being caught. Making sure as to not trip any alarms she made her way to where she knew the details of the company's plans were. With these, she could fulfill, well first she had to get a contract, but after securing one she could fulfill her contract with a rival company.

It also made stealing objects that much easier. Distracted with her exciting thoughts, she failed to notice her foot tripping a silent alarm. She found her way to the office and pawed through the folders, finding nothing she flew to the keyboard and began to type in various passwords she thought would fit.

"You know," her head snapped up, and found the source of the voice, "this office closed about two hours ago."

She cursed but then shifted back to her human form, she gave the boy a smile and said coolly, "I was looking for you. I'm glad you found me, makes my job easier. However, I expected your redhead companion to be with you. Where is he?"

A sudden wind and Inque heard a voice behind her, "Me? Oh, I'm right here beautiful."

Robin rolled his eyes from his position from the door but waited for the villainess to reply, "Well, two against one isn't very fair now is it?"

"No, but you don't have to fight. All we want to do is go home," Robin answered carefully

"What makes you think I can get you both home?" Inque commented back

"Look lady, everyone here knows you went back in time and 'accidently' brought us here with you. You obviously have a time machine thing, we kind of want to go home," Kid Flash stated anxiously

Inque pondered her options carefully and thankfully the young teenagers stayed quiet while she weighed her options. The Boy Wonder and the Fastest Boy Alive held their breath as the mysterious woman tapped her chin. An eerie silence filled the room and out of nowhere, Inque lashed out towards Kid Flash. Unprepared for the sudden attack, Kid Flash was forced to the ground and looked up at his attacker. The woman's face had disappeared and in its place was the unemotional white dot covering the face.

Robin's fingers ran over the cool smooth metal of one of his various batarangs and he expertly threw one at Inque. The villainess barely had enough time to leap off the older boy and dodge two of the three batarangs thrown. She had smiled in confidence after dodging the two but the third one had embedded itself into her ink-like flesh. A couple of beeps and Inque immediately recognized the danger; she curled into a ball and let the explosive detonate.

Kid Flash sat up and ran over towards the smoking thief, he opened his mouth to say something but Inque stopped him from doing so with another unexpected attack. Prepared, Wally expertly dodged the sharp edge coming from Inque's body.

"Crap, crap, crap, crap," shrieked Wally, he ran back towards Inque and quickly landed a few solid punches on the weakened villainess, when he made a move to land another punch she fought back by turning her solid form into a more gooey like form.

His fist was caught in the sticky substance and he speedily started to vibrate his hand. An intense pain coursed through Inque's body as she felt the burning sensation, the feeling was worse than grabbing the end of a hot curling iron. Wally's fist was finally free and he relaxed as he flexed the sore muscles in his hand, he retreated back over to where Robin stood.

Inque resumed her standing position and tilted her head slightly; Robin narrowed his eyes and again reached for another batarang. He left his position, flew gracefully over the office desk, in mid-flight he threw the batarang and to finalize his move he landed in a crouch.

The batarang hit the desired target's arm and Inque prepared to repeat the process to defend herself, however no beep came from the object but instead began to turn her ink-like flesh into a cool chunk of brilliant ice. She hissed frightfully and smashed her frozen arm onto a nearby window; it stopped the spreading of the ice and smashed the window but left her with a sore arm.

Realizing she would not win this fight, Inque eyed the office window and returned to human form, "This was a fun experience but sadly, I have to leave. I hope you'll understand," with that she turned and hastily exited the room. She flew out the window and Kid Flash ran over to watch her fall, but instead he saw nothing as he peered over the ledge. He cursed and asked, "Crap, now how are we supposed to get home?'

He gestured over towards the window and caught the look on his best friends face, a smirk was in place and immediately Wally knew he had a plan, "What?" he questioned

"Tracer is in place," he saw Wally's frown blossom into a smile and confidently turned to place a call, "Bruce? We're done here," he paused, "Yes, see you soon. Robin out."

* * *

The two weary boys hopped into the Batmobile and began to explain the fight.

"You put the tracer on, correct?"

"Yes sir, just like you asked," Robin replied proudly

"Wait, how'd you know she'd get away?" Wally probed suspiciously, he then added, "And when'd he ask you to place a tracer?"

Bruce replied first with a, "She's very talented and difficult foe."

"Before we got out of the car," Robin stated plainly

"But, I didn't…" he trailed off, "Oh never mind."

Dick cackled and leaned back in his chair, "Hopefully the tracer will stick."

"What if it doesn't?" Wally asked wearily

"Then we're back at square one." Bruce informed straightforwardly

Once again, silence filled the speeding Batmobile and the weary redhead watched as the city passed by. Questions filled his mind and he began to wonder about the team, how were they doing? He began to get tempted to ask the grumpy old Bruce; finally he gave into his temptations and asked the question.

The former Dark Knight sighed inwardly and replied carefully, "They're doing fine."

"So does that mean they still work together?"

Dick raised his head from the window and became interested in the conversation; he eagerly waited for his mentor to respond.

"Yes, with a few minor team member altercations they still work together occasionally."

Dick looked back at Wally and felt a need for more information vibe coming off Wally in waves, "Do you think we could see them?" the dark haired boy asked cautiously

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Bruce responded, Dick had heard that a million times before and it usually ended in Bruce telling him no.

Wally sat a little straighter in his seat and the thought of seeing older versions of his teammates excited him. Dick peeled the mask from his face and allowed himself to enjoy the cool air on his face before turning his cobalt eyes and making a puppy-dog face. Bruce stared at the boy without emotion and Dick had doubts that this would work, but before long Bruce began to give a smile and Dick knew he had him, he waited for a response.

"Fine, but only if we have time."

"Yes!" the boys exclaimed in harmony they hive-fived each other and sat contently in their seats.

Bruce smiled (only slightly) and allowed himself to once again, enjoy the company of his young protégé.

* * *

**A/N: **So I hope that's an appropriate length, I worked hard on it even though I should have been studying for a very important test for college :D They're tomorrow and now that I have finished this chapter I think I'm going to go study now, wish me luck! Oh and please, please, please, pretty please, with cherry on top, leave me a review! They honestly make my day. **FEED THE POOR, SAVE ELECTRICITY,** and if it's not too much, **LEAVE A REVIEW**! Please and thank you (:

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	7. In Which the Things Calm Down

**Chapter Seven**

Close call, very close call. Those twips had almost successfully taken her in. Inque knew that precautions had to be taken so she would never have to deal with such complications. Honestly, she had been completely surprised of the fact that the boys had been able to locate her. Her knowledge of the boy's skills was not in tip top condition and they lacked the certain detail she desired. Lack of information was definitely not one of the things that she enjoyed so with a smile she decided to extend her knowledge of the two misplaced teenagers.

The air around the escaping villainess made goose bumps arise on her ink like flesh. Inque noted her surroundings and smiled in pure delight as she found that she wasn't too far from home…her smiled vanished when she thought of what was awaiting her: an empty building with no company besides the hum of the heaters and the many objects she had taken.

Her feet landed softly on a filthy roof, opting not to continue on her way she chose to locate the moon. All alone up there in the terrifying black emptiness of space, the depressing thoughts continued to plague the young saboteur. Maybe it was time Inque made some friends, that couldn't hurt right?

This life style was a lonely one, peering towards the direction her base was in, Inque made an impulsive decision and took off in the opposite direction.

* * *

"So Bruce," Robin began, "What stopped you from being Batman?"

Breathing in a fresh breath of air, Bruce responded simply, "Heart problems. Plus, I'm old."

Cracking a smile from the older Bruce's humor, Dick took the time to check on Wally. The redheaded teen sat there tapping his foot, it was one of those rare moments that the other teen was in deep thought. Returning his gaze to the city, Robin smiled.

Meanwhile, a certain speedster was beginning to feel slightly homesick. This place was fantastic and not everyone got a chance to glimpse future technology and developments. Definitely something Artemis would never get to do. Like really, this is probably something Wally will never get to do again. But besides the great adventure this was, Wally missed his Uncle and the rest of his family, along with the team… not that he'd ever, ever; _ever _admit it but including the female archer on the team.

And not that Wally meant any offence to this future, but it sincerely sucked. Most of his family had been killed, the music here was terrible, and some of the fashion nowadays. Seriously, all the music was a bunch of electronic beats and guitar riffs and they call that music? Safe to say, The Flash's young partner was not looking forward to the future.

"Are we heading back to the cave or are we going to pursue Inque?" the Boy Wonder asked suddenly

"Cave, we should recuperate and then track Inque," answered Bruce

Robin turned his head slightly to the side; this older version of Bruce was different. Changes were a part of getting older but he never figured that Bruce might change. Instead of questioning Bruce, Robin said, "All right."

"Sleep would be good," piped up Wally that was the first sentence he had spoken in ten minutes, "What time is it?"

Robin's eyes found the clock on the dashboard, "Eleven-thirty two."

"Ah, no wonder why I'm so tired," Wally opened up the compartment on his wrist, discarded the wrapper of the energy bar, and stuck it in his mouth, "Much better."

After those words came out of the redhead's mouth, the Batmobile came to a halt and jerked the passengers forward slightly. The darkly lit Batcave greeted them home as everyone found their way out of the car.

A bat flew down from the ceiling and set a course straight towards the unaware speedsters, Wally flinched and squawked in surprise, noticing the looks on both of members of the batclan, Wally blushed and looked down, "Stupid bat…" he muttered, "Alright, well I'm off. Night!" And with that the fastest boy alive was gone which left the dynamic duo behind.

Semi-wobbling, Bruce set off for the computer a large yawn escaped him and he quickly tried to cover it up.

"Want me to upload the data?" Dick asked uncertainly

Bruce huffed and looked at the younger boy before him, "I'm fine."

"How many times have I heard that before when it wasn't true?" Dick half-smiled, "You look pretty beat, I'm not all that tired right now."

"Fine," Bruce said shortly, before leaving he added, "Good night Dick."

"Night old man," Dick responded smugly, he waited until he heard the click of the clock door closing behind Bruce. He then set off towards the computer and cracked his knuckles. Sitting down, Dick typed in the necessary information to get in. Quickly, Dick added the data from the tracker to the computer and set up a file with information about Inque. After accomplishing that task, he dug for more information.

He searched and finally found what he was looking for, the Justice League roster and contact information. Looking for someone he could contact, Dick's face lit up as he recognized many names. He pressed the essential buttons for contact and smiled in complete satisfaction as he watched the message send.

* * *

What one would consider a normal day, Connor Kent considered an absolute drag, and that's exactly how his day had started out. Lying in his bed, he started to convince himself to swing his legs over the mattress and begin the day. And after a couple minutes of having a one sided staring contest with the ceiling, that's exactly what he did. After his usual morning workout, Connor relaxed his muscles under a hot stream of water and almost missed the sound of his phone echoing throughout the apartment. However, because of his superhuman characteristics he was able to dry himself off and answer the landline with time to spare.

"Hello?"

"Conner? Hey! I'm so glad you picked up!"

"Hello Megan," Conner smiled at the use of her old catch phrase, "What's going on?"

"You'll never guess what just happened. I was with my Uncle J'onn and suddenly I received a message," the Martian spoke excitedly into the phone.

"Yeah?" Conner interrupted

"And guess who it was from?" Her voice carried out the excitement she felt and the excitement was beginning to rub off on Conner.

"Who?"

"Well at first when I got the message, it said it was from the Batcave. So I thought that Batman was leaving me a message." She had been talking so fast that she lost her breath, she regained it and continued, "But when I opened it up and carefully read through the message it said it was from Robin!"

Conner stood still in his apartment, at first shock was his main emotion, but that quickly wore off and he grinned in pure joy.

"Hello? Conner?"

"What'd Robin say? Did he say if Kid Flash was with him? Is he okay? Where'd they go? Do you know? What's going on?"

Megan smiled, "He says that during the mission they disappeared they accidently were transported through time, that's all he says. Oh and he says that they would like to meet us! Wouldn't that be fantastic?"

Conner looked at the ground, "Yeah… but what should we tell them about," he lowered his voice, "Artemis?"

"Well," Megan paused, "We'll just tell them to watch over her carefully."

"All right, so when and where are we supposed to meet up with them?"

"I think he wants us to visit them in Gotham, Robin didn't say exactly when so I guess whenever," Megan stopped, then started again, "Should I respond back?"

"Yeah, ask him exactly when and where."

Megan paused, then smiled, "Okay, I'll come over when I finish."

"Ok, bye," Conner hung up the phone and sighed at the messy apartment. Quickly, the clone threw away the empty containers of food, placed his clothes back where they belonged, and vacuumed. Done.

An hour later, Miss Martian sat on next to Conner on his couch, uneasiness evident on her delicate features. Although her and Conner's…romantic issues... had been placed aside and dealt with in a mature way many years ago, she still found herself oddly uncomfortable in his presence. He, on the other hand, bore no ill will towards Megan and found it relaxing to be around the Martian.

"Robin said we would meet tomorrow morning in Gotham," she smiled

"All right, where?" Conner questioned

"Wayne Manor..."

Conner looked at her in slight shock, "Really?"

"Yes, that's what he said."

Conner shook off the shock and smiled, "So what do you wanna do untill then?"

* * *

Time seemed to drag on and on as a young teenager watched the minutes click by slowly. Every minute would seem longer than the preceding one, however, having the art of patience instilled in the boy by Batman for many years, once again proved as a useful ability. Glancing yet again at the clock, Robin sighed. An hour had slowly crept by while waiting for a reply, losing hope and the battle to stay awake, Robin reached towards the 'shut down' button. In the nick of time, a loud beep alerted The Boy Wonder of a reply.

A loud thumping could be heard from Robin's chest and he hurriedly moved the mouse and pressed the 'open' button. The corners of his lips turned upwards as he skimmed the reply, a sickening crack could be heard after Robin cracked his knuckles and typed a reply.

Tomorrow, Kid Flash and he would have the opportunity to take a glance at their friends in an older state. Miss M didn't exactly clarify on who all were exactly coming but Robin had a pretty good idea that Superboy and Aqualad would join in on the 'reunion'-thing. "I wonder if they got rid of the 'boy' and 'lad' at the end of their names," Dick laughed, "Two Superman's. Ridiculous."

Somehow, in all of Robin's excitement he failed to hear the agile steps of an older man, "Actually Superman retired."

Attempting to cover the fact that he had been caught and the fact he failed to hear the older Batman, Robin spun around in the chair slowly. He came face-to-face with the older man and he smiled sheepishly, he nervously laughed, "Hey Bruce…thought you went to bed.."

Not responding, Bruce pointed a shaky finger towards the entrance of the Batcave. "Bed."

"Yes sir," Robin mumbled, he slid off the chair and trudged towards the steps.

* * *

**A/N:** So sorry for the late update! :'( Goodness, you all are wonderful! I love all the feedback; I've received more reviews on this story than on my already 16 chapter story. So, you all rock! Aside from that, my test went well and I thank all of you for the support! Anyways, this chapter was…difficult to write. It's seems that I have fallen victim to writers block…

Well, there are so many clever ways I can ask you all to review but I can't think of one. Soooo, review and I'll slap the people responsible for no new Young Justice episodes until JUNE. Hey! Thought of one (:

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	8. In Which a Reunion occurs

Light came streaming in through the reedy curtains as the sun gradually rose from the east, the light entering the room met the figure of a redhead teenager. Said teenager's eyes flitted around under his pale eyelids as he began to wake. The sound of an alarm erupted in the massive room and a lazy hand stretched out and hit the snooze button in hopes of a few more minutes of blissful sleep.

But it was too late as his thoughts grew more aware and more difficult to control. Slowly, well slow for someone with super speed, Wally West stood up and dressed himself in the futuristic jumpsuit. Taking a few extra milliseconds, the sides of Wally's lips turned upwards as he stared at his reflection in the standup mirror.

He totally pulled off jumpsuits.

Noting that the time was 7:00 a.m. exactly, the fastest boy alive (or so he assumed, he hadn't heard of any other current speedsters), arrived in the kitchen. Nonchalantly, Wally gave a nod of the head as he passed a pajama clad Dick reading at the counter.

A full minute passed before Dick spoke out, "Guess what?"

Shoving food to the side of the side of his mouth, Wally replied, "What?"

"M'gann and Connor, and possibly Kaldur are coming."

Wally dropped the spoon full of _Fruit Loops_ with a clatter, "For real? How'd you manage that?"

A mischievous smirk tugged at the Boy Wonder's lips, "Email. It was a piece of cake."

"What time will they get here? Do they know where we are? And do you think they ever found out about your secret identity?"

"If not I just told them, they'll arrive here around noon."

Wally cheerfully reminisced and absentmindedly spoke, "Schway. What's the plan until then?"

"See if Inque's made any moves," Dick paused, "Just hang out."

"I call chilling in the pool," Wally finished his breakfast, dumped the bowls in the sink, and then the colorless blur passed by Dick's chair and caused the younger boy's chair to wobble. Unfazed, Dick righted his chair and counted to three inside his head.

_One Mississippi, two Mississippi…_

"Back, coming?"

"I'm good."

"Suit yourself," Wally shrugged carelessly and within a second Dick heard the faint sound of a splash and a yell, "Cannonball!"

Carefully setting the book he had previously been engaged with, Dick took quiet steps towards the master bedroom. The grand staircase did not creak under his weight, much to the relief of the thirteen year old boy. After crossing paths with the door to his own bedroom, he arrived at the massive doors of the master bedroom. Pleased to see that the door was slightly ajar, the younger boy poked his head inside to gander at the slumbering Bruce Wayne.

Instead of the elderly man resting on the bed, there was nothing but pillows and blankets neatly made. Sighing and pushing the rest of the door open, The Boy Wonder turned quickly on his heel and began to head to the only other place the elderly Bruce would be.

The Batcave.

* * *

His fingers brushed the strand of gray hair out of his view and straightened his aching back. Overlooking the tracer's progress, he found that Inque was not on a predictable path. Her movements became unpredictable and inconstant. Grimacing Bruce turned towards his old work table, memories found their way to Bruce's mind but the elder man pushed them away. He was good at that; he'd been pushing things away all his life.

Letting his fingers glide over the cold metal surface, a creak of the door alerted Bruce to a guest. Albeit the boy had quick and light steps, he couldn't sneak behind the focused man. He heard the curious breathes as the boy began to creep closer.

"Dick?"

The boy let out a heavy sigh and plopped down into the comfortable chair seated in front of the Bat Computer, "You mad?"

"Of course not, why?" he replied turning towards the 13 year old boy

Glancing up at his mentor he saw his relaxed expression, "I dunno, I guess I assumed you'd be mad that I contacted the team…"

Staying silent, Bruce observed his young ward. His eyes were sparkling with curiosity but dark circles rested below them which made him look older then he really was. Unrelenting scars were already forming from previous battles on the boy and Bruce's eyes almost filled with water.

Shaking them away in a nanosecond he responded, "I'm not angry, confused more than angry."

"I know that this future isn't what Wally and I are going to experience. It's just that seeing that the team could survive without us gives us a sense of inner peace, Y'know what I mean?" Dick's eyes looked for some understanding in Bruce's light blue eyes. The older man turned back to his work table.

"Of course I do," Bruce said, "You better get ready, they'll be here soon."

Dick let out a displeased 'humph' and marched towards the stairs. Bruce's eyes followed him as he went and he muttered under his breath, "Sorry."

Reaching for a tool, Bruce began work on his new project.

* * *

Floating carelessly above the water on a blow up raft, Wally's fingers created a ripple in the calm water. He had been basking in the sunlight for a little bit of an hour now and the all too familiar feeling of boredom began to overwhelm the speedster.

"Wally!"

The sudden call of his name left him surprised and underwater. Dick watched as the raft tipped over and how Wally created a terrible display of swimming. He couldn't help but let out a laugh; he clutched his sides and wiped a tear out of his eye.

"Dude you need to get better at being aware," the younger boy chocked out between his fits of laughter

Using his upper body strength, the soaking wet Wally pulled himself up and out of the pool. "Yeah, yeah, yeah," he grumbled

He threw a dry towel at his soaked friend he finally calmed down and Dick said, "Get dressed; they're going to get here soon."

"Score!" Wally grinned and rushed off

"I swear, that grin gets bigger every time," Dick muttered, following Wally's path into the mansion.

* * *

The bioship flew through the air with ease carrying two passengers. The sky was clear but inside the ship, uneasiness was a shared feeling between the two superheroes.

"I called Aqualad-" Megan began

"I thought he became Aquaman," interrupted Connor, "Isn't that why he left the team?"

She smiled, "Yes, anyways, I called Kaldur and asked him to join us."

Curiosity caused Connor to ask, "What'd he say?"

"We're going to pick him up," M'gann beamed

A smile graced Connor's lips, "It's like a family reunion."

The smile faded from M'gann's features, "Almost."

The comment left Connor silent, Megan turned back to the controls as they headed towards Mount Justice. Connor didn't quite understand her at times, he guessed that the reason they drifted apart was the fall out of the team. "Thank you Artemis," he thought

Connor closed his eyes, when he reopened them he took in the sight of the bay doors opening for the bioship to land at good old Mount Justice. Or what's left of it.

"We're here," he heard M'gann say

Walking into the Mountain brought back both positive and negative memories for the clone of the original Superman and the niece of Martian Manhunter, their steps echoed throughout the mountain as they went to the zeta beam teleporter. They arrived and as if planned the new Aquaman emerged from the bright light.

"Kaldur!" M'gann ran over to her aquatic friend

He embraced her with warm arms and said, "M'gann, it is so nice to see you," he let go of the Martian and smiled, "Along with you Connor."

The now Superman grumbled but then embraced the Atlantean, "Let's go," he muttered after pulling away with a sly smile on his face.

* * *

"What time is it?"

"Eleven thirty-eight."

"Seriously?"

"Yep," Robin, now with his shades in place, rolled his eyes at his friend's impatient nature. Old reruns of Law & Order: SVU filled the room with noise but Wally still remained bored. Those shows didn't usually entertain the speedster, but for the Boy Wonder they had an opposite effect.

A ringing sound vibrated throughout the house and the two boys immediately recognized it as the doorbell.

"I'll get it!" Wally shouted

"Wait-"Robin sighed, KF was already gone. Begrudgingly he ran after his excited best friend.

Dick's feet slipped from underneath him as he rounded the corner, he caught himself in time to witness three older versions of his friends.

"Holy age Batman," he said, he ran up to them and made the group engage in a group hug.

Bruce smiled at the sight when he entered the front area.

Dick led everyone to the sitting room after they finished hugging. Dick and Wally sat on one of the three couches in the room with Kaldur, M'gann, and Connor sitting diagonally from them on the other couches.

Looking at the three, M'gann had changed the least. The only difference was her height; she was at least a foot taller than when Dick and Wally had last seen her. Her skin was still an olive color and her red hair contrasted beautifully.

Superboy was smiling at them–which confused them both—and he wore thick rimmed glasses just as the man before him wore. If Clark and Superboy were in the same room together right now, Dick was sure he wouldn't be able to tell a difference besides the shorter haircut Superboy sported. He wore what looked like his combat boots with long pants and a button up shirt.

Wally turned his attention to…Aqualad? Kaldur obviously wasn't a lad anymore so it's a possibility he has his own title now. Maybe he's now Aquaman? Wally gave him a confused look and saw that the Atlantean had developed wrinkles on his forehead and slight ones at the edges of his eyes. He wore a version of his old costume with some alterations, like the bright orange that replaced the red that was once a part of his costume.

Breaking the silence, Megan smiled and said, "You both look exactly the same as I remember."

"You too beautiful," Wally winked and to his surprise she laughed

"And act the same too," Megan said, "Why are you still wearing your glasses Robin?"

He shrugged, "I figured I'd dress the same just to bring back memories."

"Are you both well?" Kaldur questioned politely

"We're great!" Wally said, "So are you Aquaman now?"

"Yes, I am the successor of King Orin," he replied

Connor coughed loudly, Dick looked at him and asked, "How about you Supey? What's new?"

"Not much, I—I have a name now; Connor. I'm also the new Superman," he said happily

"Really?" Robin questioned, "That's great Connor!"

Color filled his cheeks as he looked away.

The room fell under a comfortable silence as everyone relaxed, Wally noticed the missing presence of the female archer on the team and asked, "Where's Artie?"

Dick noticed the subtle signs of the three people in front of him becoming uncomfortable; M'gann looked away and refused to make eye contact with the two teenagers, Connor did the same, and Kaldur took on a somber expression.

Kaldur looked at Wally in the eyes and then Dick's.

"What happened?"

Bruce took the opportunity to stroll into the sitting room and he spoke, "A big mess. Artemis got into trouble with some major villains."

Connor felt anger bubble up, "She compromised Mount Justice's location."

Dick and Wally's jaws dropped simultaneously.

"What?" Wally asked, dumbfounded, "I knew she was annoying but I never thought…"

"Tell us how, when we go back we will prevent it from happening," Dick stated

"You should not intervene with the way things are supposed to happen," Kaldur sighed

"Who said this was how it was supposed to happen?" Wally asked

"Even if you wanted to change it, I don't know how that would happen. We barely understand what happened as it is," Megan informed

Bruce narrowed his eyes, "If this is too much information for you both to handle, I'll ask them to leave."

Robin crossed his arms, "Please don't do that. We just don't understand why you guys don't want to take the opportunity to prevent things like this to happen."

Connor found himself agreeing with his younger friends, "Avoiding her from hurting us is something we should want."

Everyone was getting upset so Dick attempted to diffuse the conflict bomb, "Look, it's not something we have to decide right here and now. Let's talk about something else; fighting isn't going to get us anywhere."

The corners of Bruce's lips tilted upward, he excused himself to give them time to talk. "He'll be a good leader," he thought and closed the door behind him.

* * *

**A/N: **Well, it's nice to finally be able to update for all of you lovely people! I'M YOUNG JUSTICE DEPRIVED… they didn't air the episode…what the eff? Anyways, I don't have much to say besides review please. Those of you who review make my day! Press. The. Review. Button. Pwease? :D

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	9. In Which the Mole's Identity's revealed

"I'll go get some snacks, be right back," The Boy Wonder excused himself and walked to the kitchen. He grabbed a bowl and bent over to reach the chips stored in the cupboard below the counter.

"I'll tell you what happened."

The young teenager jumped at the sound of another voice besides his own, he smacked his head against the cupboard. Looking up, he spotted the person responsible for his injury.

"Super," he coughed, "Connor."

"Sorry," the clone motioned to the others head, "I'll tell you what happened."

Dick raised an eyebrow under the sunglasses. He set the empty bowl down and said, "Thanks Connor, so what really happened?"

Connor paused, then he found his voice, "Cadmus… they planted something... inside me," he watched the boys eyes widen, he continued, "They –and a group called The Light- made me lose control. We were on a mission intercepting another League of Shadows mission and I they activated the controlling chip. I attacked everyone on the team but Artemis… Batman noticed this when the wounded team returned and he questioned her.

"Batman knew of her past, which was a dangerous one dealing with the league and another villain but kept the information from us. I think because of that, Artemis was able to pull off what she helped do," Connor paused, looking at Robin's expression, "I finally was subdued by Superman and when I woke up the team was there looking grim. Artemis had been subtly giving information and escaped to the League of Shadows and gave the location of the cave to them. They attacked the mountain and the others were barely able to fight them off. But they did while I was knocked out, and that was the last time we ever saw Artemis."

The young teenager stood there completely shocked, "Oh wow…do you know why she did that?"

Connor scoffed, "Don't know, maybe she was trying to protect her mom. That's the only thing I can think of."

The Boy Wonder stood there in silence contemplating what he should do.

"Richard."

A sharp tone turned said boys blood turn cold, he turned around to face a very angry Bruce.

"Excuse us Connor, but I'd like to talk to Dick alone," Connor looked at Robin.

"It's all right," he mouthed, Connor nodded then left

"Follow me," Bruce ordered.

He complied and followed the grumpy man into his study, "Look Bruce—"

"You are forbidden to change the events regarding Artemis," the former Batman interrupted sharply

Before, Dick wasn't sure of what he should do or not. However, after Bruce is so opposed to it made him think preventing the incident is a better idea. Anger found its way around his body.

"Forbidden?" he repeated, "Excuse me Bruce, but you have no right to stop me from preventing something like this."

He narrowed his eyes, "I do actually and you will listen to me or I'll—"

"Or you'll what Bruce? 'Forbid' me from doing anything? Face it Bruce, you have no leverage." Dick took his sunglasses off, he crossed his arms and looked straight into the opposing mans eyes.

"Dick," he started, "You need to understand this."

His tone was short, making Dick's palms sweat but he stood his ground.

He continued, "This is unpreventable. How do you plan to prevent Superboy's rampage?"

"I'll talk to the younger you, I'm sure you'd find a way to help him."

"What about Artemis?"

Dick thought about it, "I'll talk to her."

"You won't be able to. I watched her and when she was questioned she felt no remorse. She succeeded in protecting her mother and that was all she cared about."

"I see where you're coming from Bruce… but do you see that team in there? They're all from scarred because of what happened. I don't care about anything else besides them and I want to protect them," he stared at Bruce and turned to the door, "and the only way I can, is to deal with Artemis." He slammed the doors and came back to his friends.

They greeted him back and Connor caught Dick's eye, he smiled in return which relaxed the now-Superman.

"So where's the food?"

* * *

Shrill laughter was barely heard over the loud drumming and deep bass flooding the club. Inque, now in human form, laughed as people milled around her in a drunken manner in the middle of the day. Sipping her own alcoholic beverage, she admired the friendly atmosphere and before she knew it someone slipped into her booth. Expecting another suitor, she turned seductively to face him.

However, the man that stared back at her didn't look friendly at all. His hair was snow colored, he had a formal business suit, and he was middle aged. He tugged the curtain closed, giving them privacy -to an extent- and a quieter place to talk.

She raised an eyebrow and asked, "Can I help you?"

"You do sabotage work, correct?" his voice was smooth and his gaze was calculating

She kept her cool and asked casually, "Who wants to know?"

He put his hand out, "My name's Derek Powers."

She stared at his outstretched hand, his arm retreated and she gave him a suspicious look, "You're that business guy." She took a sip of her drink.

"I am, but don't worry. This is a confidential matter. …now in regards to my question"

She decided to trust him and said, "Yes," then she added in, "I'm also an assassin for hire."

"I think you'll fit my plans perfectly," he murmured, louder he said, "I'm sure you've heard of..." he leaned in and whispered in her ear.

She nodded, "How much?"

"Fifty-thousand credits," he slid over his business card

A mischievous smile crossed the amateur assassin's face, "Looks like we're in business. I'll contact you when the job's done." She wrote down her number on a napkin.

"Good. What's that?" she followed his pointed finger to the top of her shoulder.

Her eyes widened in shock as she recognized it as a primitive tracking device.

"It's nothing," she said quickly, "I better get going."

She stood up and exited the booth, she needed to leave anyways. She shifted into her ink form and found a radio tower near the club; she hoped that it would cause interference. Leaving as quickly as possible, she ran back to her home.

Running the computer, she began research on her target: Bruce Wayne.

* * *

"Thanks for coming, are you sure you can't stay longer?"

"Thank you Robin, but we have to leave…It was nice seeing you both again," M'gann hugged the two younger boys one last time as the three superheroes walked out the door.

Dick walked over to Connor, "Thank you so much for filling me in earlier."

Connor smiled shyly, "No problem. I hope you make the right decision."

Robin turned to 'Aquaman', "It was nice seeing you Kaldur, good luck."

"Sad to see you go so soon Megalicious," Megan smiled at Wally's comment and walked into the camouflaged Bioship.

The boy watched the others follow M'gann into the ship; they gave one last wave before the invisible Bioship took off with a gust of wind.

Wally nudged The Boy Wonder's elbow, "Did you find out what happened to Artemis?"

"Yep."

"We going to stop it?"

"Yep."

"Schway."

"Yep."

"So what now?"

Dick tapped his chin, "Let's go back into town."

"All right," Wally agreed

"Let me tell Bruce," Dick ran into the house and after twenty minutes of debating with Bruce on whether it's a good idea to go or not, they were on their way.

"I still don't see why we can't run here." They were sitting on the Atrac and the impatient fifteen year old speedster began to complain.

"Because," Dick said in a low hiss, "That's too suspicious. The city's still worked up about us 'reappearing', that's why."

"And…?" Wally noticed Dick rolling his eyes, "Whatever, still think we could've been there twenty minutes ago."

Dick shook his head, "Okay, anything you need down here? Tonight we're going to go out and meet," he lowered his voice, "Inque and go home."

Wally's face lightened up, and he yelled while pumping his fist in the air, "Sick!"

The people seated around then stared in either bewilderment or annoyance, Dick heard someone say, "Is that boy sick?"

He shook his head and watched as the color of scarlet spread across the redheads face.

"Nice," chuckled Dick, "We get off here."

The exited the Atrac station and an idea began to form in Wally's head, "What do you say we go and beat up some baddies. Y'know, just to loosen up."

Dick gave his friend a skeptical look, "Because that's a great way to stay on Bruce's good side."

"Come on, it's not like he'll find out and even if he does—"

Dick interrupted him, "And he will."

"—it's not like he can really do anything about it," he finished

Dick considered this and shrugged, "Fine, but nothing too big all right?"

"Gotcha, something small," Wally pulled out his goggles and Dick rolled his eyes, "What?"

"Nothing," Dick laughed as he pulled out his mask and utility belt.

Another twenty minutes passed by and Robin and Kid Flash were perched on a rooftop waiting for danger to come along. Afternoon heat was getting more intense by the minute but the teenagers remained adamant about 'working out'.

Robin's knowledge of Gotham was the only reason Kid Flash listened to him, or else he would've already moved on to a different spot. Boy Wonder kept insisting that something was going to happen in this alley but Kid remained skeptical, the alley looked as clean as any alley way could and didn't scream 'trouble'. A television store and a shoe store were nearby but that was about it.

But sure enough, a couple thugs plus an unwilling guest soon found their way to the alley currently being watched. The thugs, who looked like a cheap imitators of The Joker, shoved the other male into a wall and held him up by the collar.

Kid Flash pulled his goggles on over his head and was about to part when Robin threw his hand in front of him, "Wait. Listen."

He did as told –but not without a huff- and listened to the Joker posers.

"Where is it?" the head 'Joker' asked

"I-I dunno! I told 'em to put it there yesterday!"

"Jace," he called, "Where's my knife?"

"No!" He received a punch in the gut and he fell down to the ground, gasping for air

"All right, now!" Robin ordered and dropped down on the head Joker poser

"Skatter!" he ordered but before the other three could escape a blur blocked their escape. The man who was getting attacked ran out of the alley, not taking another look behind him.

"Not happening," Wally smiled; he punched the two clowns while running and watched as the third gave him a terrified look.

Robin came up from behind the third thug and put the Taser to his back and pressed the 'on' button.

"I had him," KF grumbled

"Sure ya did," Robin smugly said, and then he spotted something and yelled, "KF watch out!"

One of the Jokerz had gotten up and grabbed the gun that fell out of the leaders pocket; he aimed it towards the back of the gingers head. He pulled the trigger and was about to make his first kill when his target suddenly disappeared. Shocked, he watched as the bullet whizzed past the other boys head and disappeared in the alley.

"Shi—"he wasn't able to finish his one word sentence as he was, once again, knocked out cold.

"Jeez," Robin released a sigh

The smug speedster laughed, "Poor guy never even knew what was coming."

The boys continued to laugh as the raven-haired one grappled away and the other ran after him.

From the imposingly tall Wayne-Powers building, Derek Powers lowered his binoculars from his aging face.

"So it's true, they are back," he rubbed his chin and pressed a button

"Yes sir?"

"Call Inque," he paused, "I have more targets."

* * *

**A/N: **Hmm, things should get interesting now :) Holy crap, have any of you seen 'Targets' yet? It was fantastic on YouTube haha. So go check it out! You know you want to review! :D And always remember when you review, you're helping Robin and Kid Flash get home… don't leave them hanging!

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	10. In Which Derek Schemes and Inque smirks

The only source of light in the dim cave emanated from the screen of the BatComputer. The limited amount of light cast dark shadows on the caves perimeter. Nevertheless, the small amount of light was sufficient for the elderly Dark Knight. His back ached as he hunched over his worktable, poking and testing the new technology.

Originally, he hadn't planned to finish this project. He previously had no need to, but now that the boys were there, the project had purpose once again.

Bruce looked up at his costume, and he shut his eyes attempting to block out the incoming thoughts once again.

Time travel...Time travel had the power to ruin lives and it ruined the order of the way things are meant to occur. Bruce despised the concept of it, bad things happen but to posses the power to change events is extremely dangerous. Everything happens for a reason, which was why Bruce was so stubborn about the boys going back and altering things. Who knows what changes could be made to the space-time continuum? Maybe he was being close-minded about the whole thing but in truth, Bruce was afraid of change.

A bright spark thrust Bruce out of his thoughts and back to the real world. He eyed the bright screen of the Batcomputer; Robin's tracking signal placed him in one of the city's top three highest crime areas. "Of course," thought Bruce. Probably West's idea, his old eyes rolled. He would deal with them once they got back.

Picking up his tools he got back to work, intent on finishing before the boys could return.

* * *

The beautiful office glowed from the various lamps and the large open windows displayed the marvelous city. The inhabitant of said office sadly was not as pure and compassionate. Instead, malicious intents and a corrupted soul made up the man Derek Powers, a man who now had the responsibility of partly owning Wayne-Powers and also received half of the stock.

Greed flowed through his veins, which drove him to place a hit on the other owner, Bruce Wayne. Finding an assassin willing to take the hit proved to be difficult, but eventually one presented herself with a small fee. This now happened to be the time to settle the deal and add on a few targets.

Derek rested in his plush office chair with his fingers intertwined awaiting Inque's arrival. A beep echoed in his ears and he reached over and didn't wait to say, "Let her in."

The door opened without a sound and Inque's shadow slid in soundlessly and plopped down in the seat located directly in front of him.

Her sweet voice broke the silence, "You called?"

His deep voice contrasted against hers, "Yes. You're here to discuss your payment and a possibly more."

She raised an eyebrow. "More?"

"I'm sure you've heard of the rumors of two certain sidekicks returning."

Inque looked directly into his eyes, "Absolutely. I'm the reason they're here."

A few moments of silence passed between them and Derek narrowed his eyes before saying, "And why is that?"

Inque fought for composure, "I went back in time and they happened to follow me on one of my return trips."

Fury churned in his stomach, "Not only did you neglect to mention you even possessed a time machine device, but you also did not tell me you brought them here."

Obviously discomforted, Inque spat out, "I didn't think it was any of your business."

"As your employer, I'd say yes. That would be something to mention," he paused, "But, forgetting your insolence and rethinking this...this could actually benefit us."

"How do you plan on doing that?"

"The possibilities are endless; we could go back in time and prevent enemy's births. Place bets on the stocks. Anything."

"I see."

Derek inclined his head, "Your price is fifty thousand. I'll raise it to twice as much for you to take out the kids as well."

Inque opened her mouth to reply before he interrupted, "But before you do, let me arrange a more...sophisticated plan. If you don't mind, I'd like to use your machine."

"I'll think about it."

Just as he was about to object, Inque shifted to her ink form and escaped through the nearest vent.

* * *

"Those baddies didn't even-"

"Shh!"

Wally tried again, "-Finally something to look forward to... future arcades?"

Obviously fake enthusiasm had been sprinkled into Wally's attempt to rectify his mistake, but Dick nodded and laughed anyway, "Hmm, super exciting."

They walked in silence towards the entertainment room, both of the teens kept an eye out for the grumpy old man.

"Where is he?"

The hairs on the back of Wally's neck stood up straight, he turned around and sure enough, The Batman stood before him.

"Right here."

Wally rocked back onto his heel and stepped back, "Never mind..."

Dick quickly assessed Bruce's posture, analyzed his tone, and sighed. If Dick had his way, Bruce would be completely relaxed and understanding of their actions and Bruce, Wally, and him would all eat ice cream forgetting about everything. However, reality felt like being a jerk and didn't want to help him make that true. Instead, it gave him a stressed and angry Bruce that most likely will not forget anything anytime soon.

Dick shook his head and peered up at Bruce through his long bangs, "I'm sorry…"

Bruce stared down at Dick and for a millisecond, something flashed in Bruce's eyes that filled guilt into Dick's heart. That rare flash of worry and distress Dick saw early disappeared as soon as it appeared and a scowl replaced it.

"Kitchen," Bruce said, "Now."

Wally disappeared right as he gave out the order. Dick, however, opted to stay behind and walk beside his mentor in silence. The uncomfortable silence between the two led Dick to peer cautiously at his older mentor continuously until finally Bruce's eyes met his. Dick wanted to see just how angry Bruce could be for possibly drawing more attention to them. Apparently, from the look he got, Bruce found a way to improve the whole 'emotionless-Batman-look'… if that were even possible.

Finally, they arrived to the kitchen and interrupted Wally taking a bite of a sandwich. Wally eyed his sandwich; at least Boy Wonder had someone still alive…

"Sit."

Dick obeyed and Wally attempted to keep his cool, maybe if The Bat yelled at him enough he could build up some immunity or something along those lines. Couldn't hurt to try, could it…what if he did try it out though? Would he be reduced to nothing more than a pile of dust, chemicals, and red hair?

Wally's thoughts continued to run wild as he watched the Batman's mouth form words. They seemed to repeat the same word. Before Wally knew it, he felt the small hand of the Boy Wonder smack him.

"What?" Wally hissed, Dick nodded his head towards Bruce.

"Did you hear anything I just said?" the gravelly voices tone emanated seriousness and annoyance.

"Um…"

Dick rolled his eyes, now the lecture he already heard could be repeated… how wonderful.

Bruce clutched the top of his cane and growled, "I was saying how you two went out and didn't stay low like I told you both to do. For that reason, I've decided to forbid you both to not go back into the city."

An orange eyebrow rose, "Then how're we going to get back?"

"I'm working on that," Bruce responded directly.

Dick joined in, "Well then, what're you going to do about Inque?"

"She'll be dealt with."

Dick's eyebrows drew together, "How do you plan on doing that with your back?"

"I will deal with—"

"See, you need us," Dick cut in, "It looks like in this time, superheroes in Gotham have gone out of style and we both know the police won't be able to catch Inque."

"That's beside the point. You did something you weren't supposed to and were aware of it. This isn't the first time you've gone behind my back this trip," Dick winced and Bruce softened his voice, "I'll worry about Inque, you two worry about staying put."

Dick snorted, "Fine."

Wally sat there, he could practically feel the tension in the air… it was…uncomfortable…to say the least. Dick scooted off his chair and exited the room in a huff mumbling, "Sure are different in the future."

That left just Bruce and him. The caught each other's eyes and Wally forced himself to smile. Seconds that felt like hours passed by. Wally whistled and twiddled his thumbs before finally getting off his chair to follow his upset best friend.

Wally speed walked and spat out the word 'later' before speeding off. Wally raced throughout the house and to various places where he thought the younger teen would blow off steam. He avoided the kitchen area completely. Finally, he came to the gym and lo and behold, the raven-haired boy sat perched on one of the high bars. Wally could only watch in awe as Dick fell back and hung on his calves. He straightened out his legs and began to descend to the floor.

If Wally hadn't known Dick for so long he would've shouted out and scared him from what he planned to do. He kept his mouth shut for once and observed.

Dick dropped a foot and contorted his body in mid fall to land perfectly on the ground. His best friend truly was a wonder…

Dick's piercing cobalt eyes met his stunned emerald ones and Wally smiled.

"Wanna talk about it?"

Dick threw a towel over his shoulder, "No."

Wally rolled his eyes, "All right, whatever."

The exhausted Boy Wonder hoisted himself on the platform and jumped into the air. His hands aimed for the rings in the gym, they latched, and he swung his body and held his body in place so he viewed the gym upside down.

"He's seems like such a jerk here."

Dick's sudden words didn't surprise Wally.

"Well, at least you most likely don't have to deal with this in our future. Think about it, we're going to get back and we'll have the power to make sure Bruce isn't completely doom-and-gloom and save loved ones…"

The acrobat fell forward and used his momentum to complete a flip, he released his hold on the rings and free-flipped twice before the harsh gravity pulled him back. He grasped the rings once they were in reach and he could feel sweat beginning to trickle down the side of his head as he slowly lowered down.

"It's like he's oblivious to the whole concept of 'aster' and only focuses' on making it a _dis_aster."

"Yeah… but you got to think about it. Bruce lost you once and he's probably trying to make up for it now."

Dick rolled his eyes and finally grinned, "Since when did you become the mature one?"

"Shut up dude." Wally meant the comment to sound irritated but instead it came out in a laugh.

"All I can say right now is: I'm glad to get this all over with and go home."

"For sure."

"He isn't going to let us out for weeks. You know that right?"

Wally stared at the ceiling, "He'll come around."

A doubtful laugh escaped the younger's lips, "C'est la vie."

"What?"

* * *

The city bustled about as normal but Inque paid no heed to the mere civilians. Her attention happened to be on the rooftops, hoping to see a shadow jump from one rooftop to another with an additional one following. It seemed as if that would not happen this night. Her stubbornness would kick in at that moment and she refused to turn in until the sun would rise.

She hunted in the city, eyes peeled and everything. The assassin even went as far as planting cameras were they had been sighted. Everything she tried failed miserably and hope would dwindle more and more every night. Consulting even homeless people proved to be fruitless, the way things were going; Inque would not be shocked hearing they found a way home. Even though she happened to be the only person on the planet that possessed the abilities to time travel, it appeared to be a likely answer.

Switching targets, she stalked the Wayne Manor. Security is especially tight here, which hardly shocked the swift thief. What she found there happened to be even greater than anything she could've imagined. Two teenagers were out in the garden. Admittedly, Inque thought nothing of them and almost missed them. However, the bright red hair caught her eye again and she instantaneously recognized them.

Too excited to wait, she called Powers.

* * *

The boys sat in the entertainment room, gripping controllers and pressing on the buttons harshly. The mansion only contained old games, which led to the teens getting bored easily. Every game Dick bought in the past sat there collecting dust. Wally noticed subtly –okay, maybe not so subtly- that none of the games were rated T or M. Occasionally, while rummaging around through the games he would spot a T game but mostly everything was E+.

The first day in lockdown -which they titled the current situation- immediately heightened the tension between the Knight and Squire. Boredom proved to be inevitable and after the first day they had beat every game, watched every classic movie, and ate as much as they could handle.

Second day ended with another fight and few exchanges of apologies…if you call an apology an awkward conversation. After some pleading, they were allowed to hang out in the garden, which finished with both of them covered in mud.

Third day, they didn't do anything besides sit on the couch and watch new episodes of reality shows. No matter what decade, people get famous for stupid reasons. Wally swore his brain lost a ton of brain cells; he set himself up for a sarcastic remark and a joke. Some things never change.

* * *

"I've got a better plan."

"Care to elaborate?"

Derek smiled maliciously, "Before I share, you're going to allow me access to your machine."

The rolling of the eyes annoyed Derek but he said nothing. "Fine."

"Wonderful! Now, here's the plan. You have proven yourself effective by finding Wayne is harboring the brats. Too birds, one stone."

"What does my machine have to do with this?"

Inque could practically see the fire in Powers eyes; this guy must have a serious grudge with these people. "You see, these people do not deserve an easy death. You simply attacking them all at once will not do, I want them to suffer."

Inque didn't move, "And?"

"I know exactly how to take away their safety net that is the Manor."

"Would you stop dragging this out?" Inque deadpanned.

Realizing whom she spoke to, she twitched in anticipation. However, instead of being chastised he smiled in response.

"You're going to go back to their time, kidnap one of the teammates, and bring him or her here. Then we use them as bate to drag them out."

Inque smiled and lowered her head, "I'll be back with one of them. Then we'll destroy them all."

The secretary that sat outside the room heard the malicious laughter and shivers ran down her back. She needed a new job…

* * *

**_A/N_:** **WHERE'S MY YOUNG JUSTICE? NEED EPISODES**…AND…Need...inspiration...reviews...dropping...motivation...lacking... *Collapses on ground* **Review?**


	11. In Which things Get Complicated

**Chapter 11- Time Goes on**

The team's heads hung low, grim features on each face, and a feeling of loss rolled off the team in waves. Megan cringed at the feel of the room; she could only imagine how much worse it would get in the upcoming minutes.

Those agonizing seconds did not have the characteristic of mercy, so they stretched on seemingly infinitely. Maybe dread filled them, or maybe it was relief when the booming Dark Knight's voice rung out in the room.

Superboy was the first to have to look into the emotionless white slits. He clenched his firsts and stared into them, it bothered him to see such an emotionless face. Aqualad took a step forward and Superboy could see the Atlanteans legs tremble.

Batman scanned the teen's faces. He did not need an explanation; he needed the details of HOW it happened.

"Batman."

The leader's voice remained calm but the tension in his shoulders revealed his emotions.

"What happened?" It was a simple question, albeit the way he said, it did not sound that way, but he could not answer for several minutes.

* * *

Artemis walked away from the confrontation with Batman in awe. Hearing about the loss of his partner and Kid Flash barely caused a slight twitch. From her perspective, it looked as if he shook it off in a second, ready to hear more of the story.

Artemis sighed as she removed her uniform and stepped into her civvies. She left the cave without saying goodbye.

She stepped out of the phone booth and into the crisp Gotham air. She began her walk slowly and silently. As the archer walked, she felt goose bumps rise on her pale skin, someone was following her, and she twisted around just in time to see two white dots….and then nothing.

Inque dropped down and enveloped the girls head with her ink form. She blindly clawed at Inque but it did nothing, and soon she fell to the ground. Unconscious.

And Inque thought it would be a challenge. Pity.

She glared at the unconscious heap that was the archer. Feeling a moment of sympathy for the girl, she shook it off once she thought of the money.

Just as the mysterious assailant began to reach for her device, something stopped her and pinned her to the wall behind her.

"I don't know whether it's the sharpness of the arrows tip or the speed it flies," Inque turned with wide eyes, "but they never seem to notice it hit its target."

Her eyebrows drew together in confusion and bewilderment flowed through her veins, bewilderment quickly turned to horror once she saw what this person spoke of earlier. A sharp arrow with red cresting stuck out of her shoulder. Inque immediately recognized it as a rankling arrow, which is an arrow with a detachable head that will remain in her shoulder if she removed the arrow. Gross.

Narrowed eyes searched the dark alleyway and met the masked eyes of…

She searched her clouded mind and managed to place a name. Red Arrow.

She smiled sinisterly and played on his weakness that she hoped was right.

"You know, in my time, you're still remembered as the failed protégé."

Her hopes came to life once she saw the archer's mask narrow in both confusion and irratation. Closing her eyes for a brief moment, she slipped into her ink form and bounced off the wall the arrowhead had pierced, leaving only a small trace of her skin.

Attempting to pull the same move on the older bowmen, she jumped towards him. He swiftly back flipped and drew another arrow out of his quiver. He fired it before his feet met the ground and watched as it flew towards the mysterious woman.

Inque only had a moment to prepare herself for the blow that was sure to come. The arrow exploded on impact and she shrank back into the phone booth. She grunted and immediately retaliated, her ink arm hardened into a makeshift blade and she swiftly cut his leg.

God, she wished she would remember more about his past. Nevertheless, nothing came up besides Green Arrow. Inque's very chatty, but when she knows nothing about her combatant, there's nothing to tease.

He barely noticed the deep cut on his thigh. His focus divided between Artemis and the woman. As much as he hates to admit it, Artemis and him had grown close.

Inque observed his distracted stance while he watched Artemis, and then she lunged once again. This time, however, with her hand hardening to a mace like ball.

Instead of hitting her target, he swiftly dodged her and pulled another arrow out of his quiver. He anchored it and let it go, a trick arrow which exploded on impact. He repeated that and eventually he could see Inque snarling.

Inque increasingly became bored of the explosions and lunged for the time device. She grabbed the girl and slammed her hand against the device, hearing Red Arrow scream Artemis, and then instantaneously sending them to her time.

That was the last time Roy ever saw Artemis, but that did not mean he didn't try to find her.

* * *

"Sir? I'm sorry to bother you but you have a meetin-"

"Cancel it."

"Excuse me?"

Derek smiled forcefully and gritted through clenched teeth, "Cancel. It."

His assistant, finally grasping the man's personality, closed the door without another word.

"Idiot," he murmured

The clock ticked in the corner and put Derek on the edge. Impatience, a word the practically described Derek, was exactly how he felt now. Not one person in this putrid town didn't know of his flaw, and that is exactly how he wanted it. That way, he wouldn't ever have to deal with waiting.

This time, he was waiting on a criminal to bring him what he wanted. However, she obviously was inexperienced so he supposed she deserved something of a break.

…Time travel should be instantaneous.

His fingernails drummed against his mahogany desk, he pondered with a deep scowl. His plan could be one hundred times better if he would have taken more time to do research instead of rushing things. How could he though? Wayne has both the money and resources to accomplish building a time device. Who knows, he might have once been the goddamn Batman.

Powers, for the first time in a long while, felt apprehensive or even…dare he admit it…terrified. Doubts began to spread in his mind like the bubonic plague. His idea could very well destroy the future they are in now; plucking one of the team member's randomly could destroy the space-time continuum.

No matter, if that is the case he has still won. That is all that mattered.

Curious, he turned his computer screen. His face was lit up in blue light and the reflection of the screen he saw the city. He typed in hopes of finding an answer but after he taped a few keys out of the corner of his eye, he saw a shadow.

Inque. She was back.

"Finally," he spun his chair, "I…"

He trailed off, once he took in Inque's disheveled appearance. Scuffmarks decorating her body, trash stuck to her foot, and lots of dirt.

"Wha—"

Inque interrupted and in a deadpan expression replied, "I ran into a hero."

Derek replied equally deadpan, "Which one."

"Red Arrow."

Derek typed the name into his computer. He searched and found numerous articles, "Which hero did you abduct?" Inque sidestepped and revealed the unconscious heroine, "And what is her name?"

"Not sure."

"You're not sure?"

"That's what I said didn't I?"

Derek sneered, "You've forgotten your place. NEVER, speak to me like that again. Now remember."

Inque took a small step backward, "I heard the name Artemis being screamed. So I'd assume Artemis."

"Good girl," he typed the name into the database. Nothing came up besides the Grecian Goddess.

Observing over his shoulder, she slunk back.

"You couldn't have brought anyone more 'famous'?"

"This one was the easiest to capture, the others were too well protected, and I figured she would draw less attention," Inque replied in a bored tone. She took the seat opposite Derek and stared into his glasslike eyes.

He thought carefully before speaking, "Fine. She will work. Now… we have to advertise this. Without alerting them that we know where they are."

Silence spread throughout the room and Inque scowled.

"Isn't something supposed to change here?"

Derek didn't respond, but prompted her to continue.

"Shouldn't the future be altered? We took someone from the past, shouldn't there be consequences?"

"Yes, but there is none. Therefore, there is no use worrying about trivial things."

Inque wished he would say more on the matter but she knew there was no use trying. This man was too secretive.

Derek took her silence and uttered, "We're just going to have to advertise a vague commercial, and hope they get the message. There is always the chance this won't work so we'll need a back-up plan."

Serious faces turned to mischievous glares.

Their smiles faltered when Artemis groaned.

"It's time."

* * *

_*Four hours later*_

Wally and Dick lounged on the plush couch. For once Wally was sitting still, zoning out with his eyes glued to the 3D television screen. Dick thoughts were more in depth, but not by much. The way the 'cartoons' were drawn in the future were strange and hard to follow, but they managed. Dick briefly exercised his creativity and decided once they got back; upgrading his tech would be a priority. Wally had picked up some of the 'hip' lingo and Dick would pick them apart, coming up with an antonym of some sort.

Bruce wasn't around, which was not usual in their time, and that bummed Dick out.

Bruce watched the lazy teens with a critical eye. "Too lazy, better give them something to do," he thought. He moved towards the stairs and located the teens; silently he ambled his way to the television. They barely reacted, as their eyes could no longer connect with the screen.

"Bruceee." Dick whined.

"You two need to do something other than watch television."

Wally huffed, and scoped another handful of popcorn out of the bowl.

Dick halfheartedly nodded.

Bruce narrowed his eyes and gave Dick a signature glare, the team all knew it well. Bruce noticed the remote and bent down to pick it up, allowing the teens glimpses of the screen. His finger rested on the 'Off' button but before he could press it, Dick and Wally jumped out of their seats.

Bruce stood up and followed the teens stare, _Artemis_, not in person….but on a commercial.

Bruce pressed rewind and watched the commercials beginning.

"A sofa commercial?" he thought

The commercial seemed standard until the demonstration. To claim that their sofa was the most comfortable thing affordable they zoomed in on the young Archer…unmasked, out of costume, and in sleepwear. She lay on a red sofa with yellow rims and robins decorating her sleep wear.

The shot lasted only several seconds and then big letters flashed in their faces. "**SOFA FAIR! SOFA FAIR, SALE ENDS IN FIVE HOURS**" Then in small print it said, "Sponsored by Wayne-Powers Enterprises."

The commercial ended and Dick and Wally exchanged looks.

"I thought you said Artemis betrayed the team…" Wally murmured.

An awkward moment passed by.

Bruce opened his mouth; Dick interjected and said grimly, "He lied."

Wally's eyebrows drew together in puzzlement, "But even Connor told us! Are you telling me he lied to our faces?"

"Yes," Bruce calmly answered.

"Why?"

The way Wally spat it out made it sound more like a demand rather than a question.

Realization hit Robin, "That's why Connor worded things strangely…I should have realized that his words had a double meaning…"

The old and decrepit Bruce watched Dick fume with anger and disappointment in himself, "Yes, the reason Superboy did not attack Artemis was because she was not there. Traitors will be something you will deal with, but Artemis didn't betray the team. She disappeared shortly after you two did."

Wally looked skeptically at Bruce, "You chose to keep this from us because?"

"It was not in either of your best interests, if I, or the team, told you, you would have gone searching in an instant."

Neither boy could deny that, but that did not mean they weren't pissed off. The second greatest detective sat down in defeat, and questions poured in like a flood, as well as the worst thoughts of all…doubt.

"So what do we do?" Wally asked

Dick glare flickered to Bruce.

"We're going to help Artemis."

Bruce understood Dick's anger and calmly stated, "Get ready; I will monitor you both while you try to locate Artemis."

Wally pumped his fist into the air and ran-off. Dick ran after him but stopped in the doorway, "Thanks."

When he smiled, Bruce felt himself wanting to smile back and his heart ached.

He scurried off and Bruce smiled, it felt strange on his face. It almost hurt… but in a good way. After waiting several moments, he headed towards the cave.

* * *

Robin and Kid Flash stealthily made their way around various pipes on the rooftop of the furniture warehouse where people milled about, hoping to score a nice couch.

Bruce's voice rung in their ears, _*"Thermal scans show nothing out of the normal, the main event is held on the first two floors of the building. The top floor seems to be empty, I'd start there."*_

"Gotcha." The boys muttered

Robin secured a rope on the edge of the rooftop and slid down to the top window. Wally watched him as he tried to pry the window open then looked around the rooftop of the building.

"It's not opening…" Robin muttered, "KF!"

He popped his head over, and smirked, "Yesss?"

"Check to see if there's any way we can infiltrate the building from there."

Wally yanked his goggles off his head and switched them to what he liked to call detective mode. He placed them back on his face and peered towards anything lit up. The worried red head—he wasn't worried about Artemis she'll be fine…hopefully—found a bolted down air vent.

"Rob?" he called out.

"Yeah?" replied the voice over his shoulder.

Kid Flash flinched and glared at his best—ninja—friend.

"Have anything to cut through this metal?"

Robin fished around in his belt.

_*"Second pocket on the left**"***_ Bruce said

The teen wonder pulled it out and smirked at the laser pointer.

He pressed on the comm. Link, "_Because this is the future, I'm not going to judge its cover but I'll admit I am doubtful._"

Kid Flash bowed aside and said, "Carry on!"

"Why thank you," he said before firing the laser. The laser sliced through the metal cover in under .5 seconds with minimal sound.

"Impressive," Robin muttered.

They dropped down onto the top floor and begun investigating.

"Surveillance systems cut off."

Robin took the west side of the building and Kid Flash took the east.

"Easy peasy," thought KF.

Robin has his gloved fingers sifted through a cabinet in the manager's office looking with expertly trained eyes. "Nothing," Robin thought with an exasperated sigh.

*"Rob, you might want to come see this…"*

Robin pushed the cabinet door closed and scurried off towards Kid Flash.

As soon as they made eye contact Robin could see, something was off, "Here, plug this into your computer."

The hacker did what he told him to do and a video popped up. To no one's surprise Inque was the one in the video, "Want your friend? Come to Wayne-Powers warehouse 41."

The video shut off and Robin's fingers flew soundlessly to attempt to block out the oncoming virus. Once accomplished, the boys looked at each other with dread.

* * *

A/N: Hello my avid readers, NightwingFan here…I'm just here to let you know that I'm planning the end of the story. It should be up soon. ANYWAYS. You know the drill: Read, hopefully like, and review. Seriously. I'm drowning in writers block and school. You'd really be making a lowly authors day…. :'(

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**PRESS**

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**IT.**

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